UW Oshkosh senior point guard Ben Boots has been named a Division III preseason All-American by D3hoops.com.

The honor comes as UWO’s first-ever men’s basketball selection to the D3hoops.com All-American team.

Boots started all 33 games last year for the Titans and led the team in points per game with 16, 4.4 assists per game and 1.4 steals per game. His team-leading assist numbers were also the best in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, and he also led the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio.

The senior guard made D3hoops.com’s All-Central Region team last year after leading the team to a 25-8 record and taking them to the NCAA D-III National Championship game.

The Kimberly, Wisconsin, native is currently 17th in career points scored at UWO.

Boots credited his teammates and coaching staff with helping him achieve the selection.

“I’m very appreciative of the honor,” Boots said. “Receiving individual recognition of this sort is a testament to the many people who have impacted my career. I’m very thankful to have a great coaching staff that pushes me on a daily basis and great teammates who are able to make my job easier and bring out my best.”

Boots shot 44.4 percent from the field, 38.8 percent from 3-point range and 85.6 percent from the free-throw line during the 2017-18 campaign. He also had a season-high 36 points in an overtime victory against Augustana College and scored in double-digits in 29 of their 33 games last season.

Boots said this is just a preseason award, and he knows he has work to do during his senior season.

“I’ve always believed a preseason award is more of an honor based off of the things I’ve accomplished in the past,” Boots said. “I’m looking forward to another year and another opportunity to compete with my teammates and justify the selection.”

Boots said there isn’t any added pressure for him this season due to the selection.

“For me, I believe that I’ve always set the highest of expectations for myself regardless of what the public’s opinion was,” Boots said. “I don’t feel any additional pressure because I know that my teammates and I are prepared to compete at a very high level and that nobody’s expectations are higher than our own.”

The Titans will be opening their season with an exhibition game against the Division I Wisconsin Badgers in Madison on Nov. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center.