"Natesan Named D2CCA First-Team All-Region"

"Colorado School of Mines' Gokul Natesan has been named a D2CCA First-Team All-South Central Region honoree.

Natesan, a senior, has led #11 Mines (29-4) to the NCAA Sweet 16, where they'll host West Texas A&M on Tuesday at 7 p.m. WTAM's David Chavlovich was also named to the first team; several other familiar faces that Mines has faced this year appeared on the teams with Fort Lewis' Joshua Blaylock on the first team and Rasmus Bach on the second team, and Arkansas-Fort Smith's Seth Youngblood on the second team.

Natesan has had a standout senior season, averaging 18.8 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.0 steals per game as one of the nation's best two-way players. He has been especially outstanding in the postseason, where he is averaging 20.4 points, 6.2 assists, and 2.6 steals per game over the five games of the RMAC Tournament and NCAA Championship.

It is the latest in a bevy of awards for Natesan this season, which includes CoSIDA First-Team Academic All-America, RMAC Tournament MVP, First-Team All-RMAC, and RMAC Academic Player of the Year. He is a Bevo Francis watchlist member and was a Sporting News Preseason All-American. It is Natesan's second career all-region honor after earning first-team status a year ago, as well.

In his career, Natesan has scored 1,987 points (fourth all-time at Mines) with 408 assists (third), 243 steals (first), and 281 three-pointers (second). He has a chance to become Mines' fourth 2,000-point scorer as the Orediggers try to advance to the NCAA Elite Eight on Tuesday."

Natesan is out of Cupertino High.