KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 25) – California (PA) junior guard Donald Whitehead, Jr. was announced as a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-American on Tuesday morning.

Whitehead becomes the sixth NABC All-American in program history, joining Kenny Toomer (1992), Ray Gutierrez (1993), Seth Martin (2000-01) and KJ McClurg (2024). He is the first point guard at Cal to accomplish the feat and is one of 16 standouts in NCAA Division II chosen to the NABC All-America Team this year.

A Hickory product, Whitehead was dynamic in his second year as a starter as he shattered his career highs in points, assists and minutes. He averaged 19.4 points per game and eclipsed 500 points despite missing four games due to injury. Whitehead converted 73 three-pointers, which surpassed his previous career total, while shooting 38.6 percent (73-of-189) from beyond the arc. The 5-foot-10 junior converted 80.0 percent (100-of-125) from the free-throw line after previously never attempting 100 free-throws in a season.

Whitehead averaged 5.0 assists and 36.8 minutes per game as a junior. He totaled 129 assists to become the third different player in the last four years to reach the century mark. Whitehead ranked among the top 20 in NCAA Division II in minutes per game after playing all 40 minutes 11 times over the final 14 games. The Hermitage, Pennsylvania, native also averaged 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game while helping the Vulcans advance to the semifinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament.

A criminal justice major, Whitehead was selected the PSAC West Athlete of the Year three weeks ago and earned All-PSAC West First-Team laurels for the first time in his career. He also was tabbed a consensus first-team all-region honoree by both the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) and the NABC. Whitehead is one of only four players at Cal in the last 30-plus years to reach both 1,000 points and 275 assists in a career [Candice Pickens, Brent Pegram, Zyan Collins]

Whitehead is one of three standouts to earn NABC All-America honors for head coach Danny Sancomb, including current Miami Heat forward Haywood Highsmith – who starred at Wheeling from 2015-18.