University of the Incarnate Word Athletics

One year ago Denzel Livingston was named Male Athlete of the Year at Incarnate Word.  He had an impressive resume in receiving the honor.  Then it got even better for 2014-2015 as Livingston has been named Male Athlete of the Year, again.
 
In this age of the Internet there are all kinds of organizations which recognize collegiate athletes and the 6-4 guard caught the eye of a host of them.  He was All-College Sports Madness.  Twice that group named him player of the week and once Mid-Major National Player of the Week.  He was player of the week by BennettRank.  He was College Hoops Daily Southland Conference Player of 2014.  He was NetScouts National Player of the Week.
 
At the Southland Conference level he once was league player of the week and at the end of the season he was voted All-Conference first team.  He was All-Southland Conference by College Hoops Daily and by Breibart Sports.
 
He then was voted All-District by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.  And he got onto the Lou Henson Award mid-season watch list.
 
On the court, during the season Livingston was a player that many label a box-score-filler-upper.  Game after game he put numbers in almost every category on the box score.  Four times he had double-doubles which means he had double figures in two categories.  He led the UIW team in minutes played, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and attempted, blocked shots, steals, points and average.
 
In the Southland, he was second in scoring (21.5), steals (2.6) and minutes played per game (36.9).  He was eighth in field goal percentage (.455) and free throw percentage (.805).  In the conference he was 10^th in blocked shots (1.3).  He was 14^th in both rebounding (5.9) and assists (2.9). 
 
At the national level he also was impressive.  UIW was playing in the second of four transition years into Division I of the NCAA.  Thus, individual Cardinals athletes are not yet eligible for statistical rankings.  However, had Livingston been eligible he would have been up there among the leaders.
 
His numbers would have put him fourth in scoring in Division I, sixth in both steals and free throw attempts.  He would have been 21^st in minutes played and 24^th in free throws made.  These rankings are for the big guys, Division I, the Duke's and the UCLA's and the Michigan's and the Kentucky's and all the others. 
 
While piling up impressive statistics, Livingston was the leader on a UIW team which played its toughest schedule ever as the transition process goes forward.  The team posted an 18-11 final mark and had impressive road wins over Nebraska, Princeton, Missouri-Kansas City and Grand Canyon.  The apex of the year was when UIW hosted its first-ever Division I post-season game as part of the collegesports.com Invitational Tournament.
 
Having completed his collegiate eligibility, and with the dust of the season barely settled, Livingston set off on a road which just might lead to the NBA. 
 
He received an invitation and played in the annual Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in Virginia which included 64 of the nation's top college prospects.  He then went through a series of late spring on-court tryouts and personal interviews with the Utah Jazz, the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets.  All of these stops are in advance of the annual NBA draft in June.
 
UIW's male athlete of the year is selected by coaches and athletic administrators.  To get on the ballot athletes must have been named male athlete of the week sometime during the academic year.  Livingston did that, four times.
 
A native of Houston and a graduate of Waltrip High School, he is studying general business at Incarnate Word.