Casper Ware during the 2010-2011 season.

9:30am | Casper Ware, Long Beach State’s basketball point guard, is beginning his final year with the 49ers — and he’ll be leaving as one of the best players the 49ers has ever had.

Hailing from Cerritos, Ware wowed 49er fans in his freshman year setting the assist record for any freshman in LBSU history; he repeated this record his sophomore season. In his junior season, 2010-2011, Ware led Long Beach State in scoring (17.2 ppg), assists (150) and steals (56), while also finishing second in 3-pointers made (75).  Ware finished the season second in the Big West Conference in scoring, while also ranking second in assists (4.4 apg), fourth in steals (1.6 spg), sixth in free throw percentage (.810), fifth in 3-point field goals made (2.2 per game) and seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (.381).  He ranked among LBSU’s all-time single-season leaders in free throws made (3rd), free throws attempted (6th), 3-point field goals made (7th), 3-pointers attempted (7th), assists (9th), and steals (11th). 

His upcoming senior year is even more praiseworthy for Ware, as he leads among the all-time greats at Long Beach State in a number of career categories: third in assists (431) and free throws made (337), while ranking fifth in steals (159) and 10th in points (1,250).  Ware also has made 119 career 3-pointers, which is two shy of cracking the school’s top 10. Ware should leave Long Beach State as the career record holder in at least two of those categories and he has an outside chance at a third.  Ware trails the all-time leaders by 41 in steals (he had 69 and 56 the last two years), 76 in assists (he had over 100 in each of his three seasons) and 212 in free throws made (he had 166 as a junior and would need to break the single-season record to have a chance).  He trails Lucious Harris, the school’s all-time leading scorer, by 1,062 points (Ware had a career-high 585 points as a junior), and Jibril Hodges, the school’s all-time leader in threes, by 133 3-pointers (Ware had a career-high 75 as a junior).

On a highly prestigious level, Ware has been named to the John Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 List released by the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the first Long Beach State player to be honored in the school’s history.  The list was based on last year’s individual performance and team records, and the players are early frontrunners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor.
 
Ware received a number of postseason honors last season after leading the 49ers to the Big West Conference regular-season title and a berth in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).  He was an honorable mention All-America pick, while also being selected as both the Big West Conference Player of the Year and the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Year.  He was the first player in Big West history to win both awards in the same season, and is the only returning player in the nation to claim both league honors.  Ware also earned a spot on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 9 Team, as well as a place on the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) All-District IX Team, the 2011 Lefty Driesell Defensive All-America Team, and the 2011 Lou Henson All-America Team (the mid-major All-America team).   

Ware was one of 20 finalists for the Bob Cousy award honoring the nation’s best point guard, and he claimed Big West Conference Player of the Week honors once after leading the 49ers to wins at UC Davis and Cal State Northridge.  Defensively he spearheaded an attack that, in Big West games, helped limit opponents to 60 points or less on seven occasions, all resulting in 49er victories.  LBSU was 12-0 in conference play when it held the opponent under 70 points. 

If this isn’t proof enough of Casper Ware’s enormous contributions to LBSU basketball, he has officially joined three of the all-time greats at Long Beach State when he got his 400th career assist during his junior season.  Ware joined Ed Ratleff, Craig Hodges and Morlon Wiley as the only 49ers to score 1,000 points and hand out 400 assists during their careers.

You can watch Ware kick off his last season with the 49ers this Saturday at 2:05pm at the Walter Pyramid, where they will face the Idaho Vandals.