BATON ROUGE, La. - The Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches announced today Bossier Parish Community College guard Eric Parrish as the recipient of the Louisiana Junior College Player of the Year award for 2019. The LABC also selected Bossier Parish coach Chris Lovell as the recipient of the Louisiana Junior College Coach of the Year award for 2019.

"I'm truly honored and humbled to be voted the LABC Junior College Coach of the Year," said Lovell. "Obviously, this award is a direct reflection of the program we are trying to build at Bossier Parish Community College. I would like to thank God, the LABC, my coaching staff, the players, the administration at BPCC and the cities of Shreveport and Bossier City for all the support."

Listed on the roster as a guard, Parrish was a swingman for the Cavaliers throughout the 2018-19season. A transfer from the University of Akron, Parrish put together one of the greatest seasons in the 36-year history of Cavaliers basketball. He led BPCC in nearly every statistical category, including points per game (18.2), rebounds per game (8.7) and assists per game (6.4).

The sophomore from Houston, registered five triple-doubles on the year, and had 14 double-doubles in 29 games. Parrish had the seventh-best scoring season in school history with 535 points, the eighth-best rebounding season with 253 rebounds and second-best assists season with 187 assists.

Parrish was a First-Team All-Region 14 selection, a first for BPCC in three seasons. Parrish was the first-ever junior college player to earn Player-of-the-Week honors from the Louisiana Sports Writer's Association. He garnered Player-of-the-Week honors three times during the season. He was also the National Junior College Athletic Association's National Player-of-the-Week for the week of Nov. 26-Dec. 2, 2018.

Lovell just completed his third season as the men's basketball head coach at BPCC. Lovell guided Bossier Parish to a 19-12 record this season. The 19 wins were the most for a Bossier Parish team since the 2006-07 Cavaliers went 19-9. During the season, BPCC garnered its first National Junior College Athletic Association Top 25 ranking in over two decades.

It's also the first time Bossier Parish has had back-to-back years with 17 or more wins since 2006-08. Lovell led the Cavaliers to the Region XIV Tournament, marking the third straight season the Cavaliers have reached the postseason. That feat hasn't happened since 2004 through 2007. Lovell is the first BPCC coach to post double-digit wins in his first three years since Louis Bonner did it in 2002-05.

"I'm thankful that people are taking notice of what we are doing here at BPCC in the men's basketball program," said Lovell.

This is the third straight year in which a BPCC Cavalier has been selected by the LABC as the Junior College Player of the Year. In 2017, the honor went to guard Lasani Johnson, who's now playing at Grambling State University. In 2018, forward Mubarak Muhammed, who is currently playing at Louisiana Tech, was the recipient of the honor. It's also the second consecutive year Lovell has been selected as the Junior College Coach of the Year.

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