Ottumwa -- Indian Hills sophomores Tomas Woldetensae and Torrey Patton have been named basketball All-Americans by the National Junior College Athletic Association. Woldetensae was a selection on the ten-player Division I First Team while Patton received Honorable Mention recognition.
Woldetensae earned the honor after putting together a stellar season in which he established himself as one of the best 3-point shooters in IHCC history and the all-time free-throw percentage leader.
The 6-foot-5-inch guard, was the Warriors' top scorer, averaging 17.3 points per game. Woldetensae's 100 3-pointers were two shy of the single-season school record and he made at least one three in every one of the 28 games he played. His 154 3s over two years is third all-time at IHCC. In 2018-19, he shot .476 from behind the 3-point arc and .885 from the foul line. For his two-year career, Woldetensae shot .444 from distance and a program-best .888 on his free throws.
The native of Bologna, Italy was forced to miss the final four games of the past season – including the Warriors' two national tournament contests – after breaking a bone in his wrist. He was a key performer on an Indian Hills team that went 33-1 his freshman campaign, putting the Warriors' record at 60-8 in his two years.
Woldetensae earlier was named the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference Division I Player of the Year and was a first-team all-region choice after helping lead the Warriors to a tie for the regular-season league title.
Patton joined the Indian Hills roster for his sophomore season after playing at NCAA DI Akron University as a freshman. The Dayton, Ohio product was second on the team in scoring average at 15.0 and led the Warriors in rebounds at 8.3 a game. He shot .522 from the field and .729 at the foul line and was second on the team in steals with 37. The 6-foot-4-inch Patton scored in double figures in 23 games and topped 20 points nine times. He capped IHCC's 27-7 season by being selected to the All-Tournament team at the NJCAA National Tournament where he scored 48 points in two games, including a season-best 30 in a first-round win against Central Georgia Tech. Like Woldetensae, Patton was named to the ICCAC first team.
This is the eighth consecutive year that Indian Hills has had at least one NJCAA All-American, a streak dating back to 2012. Twenty-eight players have now received the honor, 12 of them named to the first team. Also, Indian Hills is one of only two DI teams in the country to have two All-Americans this year, joining John A. Logan (Ill.) with that distinction.