Irvine Valley's Daniel Hernandez named CCCMBCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year

Former Irvine Valley men's basketball player Daniel Hernandez was recently named a California Community College Men's Basketball Coaches Association Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Hernandez was a two-year player for Irvine Valley and finished his sophomore year in 2017-18.

He is now playing basketball at Cal State San Marcos.

Hernandez was one of two scholar athletes of the year. He received the honor for Southern California, while Jushan Samra of Las Positas was picked as the Northern California CCCMBCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

Hernandez had a 3.8 cumulative grade point average and earned his AA degree in Environmental Science from Irvine Valley his past spring.

Along with shining in the classroom, Hernandez was also selected for his leadership, community service and character.  

His community service has focused on the issues facing the homeless in Orange County, and his work has been in the areas of health care, nutrition and shelter. 

For his work, he was named the IVC Student-Athlete Community Ambassador of the Year in 2016-17, and nominated for the OEC Athlete of Character Award in 2017-18

On the court, the 6-0 guard, helped Irvine Valley finish with a record of 14-15 overall and 3-9 mark in the tough Orange Empire Conference during the 2017-18 season.

He was named second team all-conference.

Hernandez played and started in all 29 of the team's games. He averaged 11.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Hernandez scored in double figures in 18 games and had a season-high 28 points in IVC's 71-37 victory over Cuyamaca last Nov. 16. He went 6 of 10 from three-point range in the contest.

He knocked down 58 three-pointers on the season and finished his Irvine Valley career with 85 three-pointers made and 493 overall points. Hernandez made at least three three-pointers in 11 games this past season.

He averaged 5.5 points as a freshman for Irvine Valley during the 2016-17 season.