Big South Announces 2015-16 Men's Basketball Honors and Awards
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point redshirt-senior forward John Brown and Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay have been voted the 2015-16 Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively, by the league’s head coaches and media panel, it was announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office. The panel voted Campbell guard Chris Clemons Freshman of the Year and Brown as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. Coastal Carolina senior forward Tristian Curtis was voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league’s Sports Information Directors.
Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) becomes the first player in Big South history to be voted Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season, and is just the second player to be voted First-Team All-Conference all four years. He is also the sixth two-time Player of the Year honoree in league annals. Brown capped the regular-season with 19.6 points (third in the Big South), a 60.2 field goal percentage (first), 7.1 rebounds (sixth), 1.75 blocked shots (third) and 3.25 offensive rebounds per game (first). He was second in the nation in player efficiency rating and third nationally in offensive efficiency. A preseason Julius Erving Watch List candidate and candidate for the Lou Henson National Player of the Year award, Brown is among the national leaders in field goals made with 212. In Big South games, he averaged 20.0 points, 7.4 rebounds and 61.8 percent from the field. The two-time Big South Player of the Week scored 20 points in a game 12 times this season, recorded five double-doubles, and amassed 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game four times. Brown scored 20 points in four consecutive games from Jan. 20-Feb. 3, shot better than 65 percent from the field 12 times -- including seven games above 70 percent, and was HPU’s leading scorer in 20 of the 28 games he played. Defensively, Brown leads the Big South in blocks + steals (97) -- 18 more than the next closest player, and is the only Big South player in the Top 100 nationally in block percentage (6.5) and steal percentage (3.2). Brown finished with 1.71 steals per game and 3.86 boards per contest overall, while against Big South foes he averaged 1.41 blocks, 3.88 defensive rebounds and 1.59 steals. He tallied 14 multi-block games (five games with at least four) and 16 multi-steal games (three games with four).
In the Player of the Year voting, Brown received 21 first-place votes and 472 total points from the panel, ahead of Winthrop’s Keon Johnson (six first-place votes and 452 points) and Presbyterian’s DeSean Murray (three first-place votes and 395 points). For the defensive award, Brown collected 15 first-place votes and 69 total points, ahead of UNC Asheville’s Ahmad Thomas (four first-place votes and 37 points) and Winthrop’s Duby Okeke (four first-place votes and 30 points).
McKay, in his first season back on the Flames’ sideline after coaching Liberty two years from 2007-09, led LU to a 10-8 Big South record and first round bye in this week’s Big South Men’s Basketball Championship tournament. The Flames were predicted last in the league’s preseason poll and returned just four letterwinners and zero starters from last year’s squad. McKay directed the Flames to their first 10-win Big South season since 2011, their most Big South road wins (five) in five years, and the league’s second-best scoring defense overall (68.0) and in conference games (67.2). Liberty led the conference in fewest overall rebounds allowed (32.3), and went a combined 4-1 against the top three seeds in Big South standings (2-0 vs. High Point, 1-1 vs. Winthrop, 1-0 vs. Coastal Carolina). In league games, Liberty was tops with a 74.7 free throw percentage and 9.83 three-pointers per game, was third with a 45.3 field goal clip, third in three-point percentage (38.0) and fourth in field goal defense (33.7). McKay received 15 first-place votes and 64 total points, ahead of UNC Asheville’s Nick McDevitt (seven first-place votes and 49 points) and Winthrop’s Pat Kelsey (five first-place votes and 44 points).
Clemons (Raleigh, N.C.) is the first Campbell player to be voted Big South Freshman of the Year since 2011-12 and the fifth overall. The Big South’s leading-freshman scorer with 18.8 points per game (fourth overall in the league), Clemons is sixth-nationally among all freshman in scoring. He set a school-freshman record with 544 points this season (fifth-most among freshmen in Big South history), and posted eight games with at least 25 points -- second-highest in the Big South this year. He leads the conference with 3.10 three-pointers per game, the only player above 3.0, and is second in free throw percentage at 84.1 percent. A six-time Big South Freshman of the Week, Clemons scored a career-high 31 points vs. The Citadel, had 30 in a win at Winthrop and 26 in Campbell’s victory at Charlotte. Clemons received 21 first-place votes and 146 total points, ahead of UNC Asheville tandem Dylan Smith (three first-place votes and 86 points) and Dwayne Sutton (four first-place votes and 78 points).
Curtis (Nassau, Bahamas) is averaging career highs of 6.4 points and 6.8 rebounds, while shooting a team-high 74.0 percent from the field. A starter in all 27 games this season, he finished perfect from the field in 13 of 27 games and ranks second on the team and ninth in the conference in rebounding. Curtis, who sits seventh in the Big South with 2.41 offensive boards per game, is a three-time Big South Presidential Honor Roll member and five-time Dean’s List honoree. He is also active in the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
Joining Brown on the All-Conference First-Team are Johnson, Murray, Winthrop’s Jimmy Gavin and Longwood’s Lotanna Nwogbo. The entire 2015-16 All-Conference team is as follows:
First-Team All-Conference
John Brown, F, R-Sr., High Point
Keon Johnson, G, Jr., Winthrop
DeSean Murray, F, Soph., Presbyterian College
Jimmy Gavin, G, Gr., Winthrop
Lotanna Nwogbo, F/C, R-Sr., Longwood
Second-Team All-Conference
Xavier Cooks, F, Soph., Winthrop
Rashun Davis, G, Sr., Radford
Adam Weary, G, Sr., High Point
Tyrell Nelson, F, Jr., Gardner-Webb
Chris Clemons, G, Fr., Campbell
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Shivaughn Wiggins, G, R-Jr., Coastal Carolina
John Dawson, G, R-Soph., Liberty
Cameron Jones, G, Sr., Radford
Elijah Wilson, G, Jr., Coastal Carolina
Dylan Smith, G, Fr., UNC Asheville
All-Freshman Team
Chris Clemons, G, Fr., Campbell
Dylan Smith, G, Fr., UNC Asheville
Dwayne Sutton, G, Fr., UNC Asheville
Armel Potter, G, Fr., Charleston Southern
Ed Polite Jr., F, Fr., Radford
All-Academic Team
Jacob Talbert, G, Jr., Campbell
Patrick Wallace, G, Jr., Charleston Southern
Tristian Curtis, F, Sr., Coastal Carolina
Tyrell Nelson, F, Jr., Gardner-Webb
Austin White, G, Soph., High Point
Ryan Kemrite, G, R-Soph., Liberty
Charlie Inclan, G, Jr., Presbyterian College
Justin Cousin, G, R-Soph., Radford
Kevin Vannatta, G, Soph., UNC Asheville
Player of the Year
John Brown, F, R-Sr., High Point
Freshman of the Year
Chris Clemons, G, Fr., Campbell
Defensive Player of the Year
John Brown, F, R-Sr., High Point
Coach of the Year
Ritchie McKay, Liberty
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Tristian Curtis, F, Sr., Coastal Carolina