Sophomore point guard Mack Lankford continues to leave her mark on the ACU record books as she was named a Daktronics all-American. She was voted as a member of the third-team squad after being awarded first-team all-South Central Region by Daktronics.
Lankford is the first ACU guard to be named an all-American since Anita Vigil was named to the Kodak all-America honorable mention team in 1991.
“I just never even imagined being in this position when I came here, especially only being a sophomore,” Lankford said. “I feel honored being even considered, must less actually making one of the teams.”
Despite being hampered by a shoulder injury that forced her to sit some of the season, Lankford still posted ridiculous offensive numbers. She led the Lone Star Conference in scoring at 21.5 points a game and also about 3 assists and 4 rebounds a game. The award is one of many that Lankford has won in her already storied ACU career. Last season Lankford was named LSC Freshman of the Year.
After five seasons of making the Lone Star Conference postseason, last year was a step backwards for the basketball program. With a slimmed down Lone Star Conference and an easier chance at the postseason, the Wildcats struggled, finishing 10th out of 11 teams.
The one constant was Lankford, who provided leadership on and off the court while being only a sophomore.
“She definitely deserves it,” assistant coach Lynsie Blau said. “She is a great player, and just a great kid. She truly loves basketball, and when she is on the floor, she is doing everything she can to win.”
Despite all of the personal success, Lankford is focused on team glory.
“I want to win conference and the conference tournament,” Lankford said. “It doesn’t matter how I do individually, if the team doesn’t succeed.”
Success next year for the women’s team and Lankford will depend largely on who director of athletics Jared Mosley hires to be the new head coach to replace ten-year incumbent Shawna Lavender. At the time of her contract not being renewed Mosley said that a search for a new coach would begin immediately and no timetable was set for the hire. Mosley also stated that search for the new head coach would be a national one.
