Photos by Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – CR’s Thomas Nelson has been named MVP of the GVC.

By Ray Hamill — A phenomenal season on the basketball court for the College of the Redwoods men has been recognized by the Golden Valley Conference coaches, with a near sweep of the end-of-season awards.

On Saturday, sophomore Thomas Nelson was named conference MVP and first-team all-state, while teammates Zac Claus, Drew Gillette and Donald Willis were each named to the all-conference first team.

In addition, head coach Ryan Bisio was named GVC Coach of the Year and Bradley Willis was named Honorable Mention and to the All-Defensive team.

On Wednesday night, the CR men closed out conference play with a championship-clinching 109-84 win over their closest challengers Shasta.

In his first season in charge of the Bisio led the Corsairs to a 21-5 record and their first conference title in a decade.

Nelson led the GVC in scoring (20.1 a game) and was second in rebounds (7.7 a game), and he has continued to be the conference’s most impressive player despite all the attention he attracts from opposing defenses.

CR head coach Ryan Bisio

For the season, the former Arcata Tiger is shooting a very impressive 54.3 percent, which also is tops in conference.

He is one of just 10 players from NorCal named to the all-state team.

Gillette, meanwhile, has enjoyed a stellar debut collegiate campaign, averaging 17 points a game, which is fourth best in the GVC, and lifting the level of his play as the season progressed.

Claus also is enjoying an outstanding season, averaging 10.9 points and 4.9 assists a game, the latter of which is second best in the GVC.

Donald Willis also shot an impressive 51.4 percent from the floor, third best in conference, for a 12.1 points-per-game average.

His 3.2 assists per game is sixth best in conference.

Bradley Willis averaged 7.1 points and 4.8 rebounds a game.