Hoops HD

The end of the regular season means that it is time to recognize the best players/coaches in college basketball this season. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel has reviewed all of the numbers and is ready to announce his picks for the 5 best players from each conference based on their all-around stats. Players are listed in a traditional 5-position lineup (G-G-F-F-C) whenever possible with several exceptions, plus special awards for each conference’s Player of the Year (POY), Rookie of the Year (ROY), Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), 6th Man of the Year (6TH), and Coach of the Year (COY). If you think he has overlooked anyone then feel free to tweet us your comments, and if you missed last week’s picks for the rest of the conferences in Part 1 you can find them at: https://hoopshd.com/2023/02/26/handing-out-the-hardware-all-conference-awards-of-the-year-part-1-of-2-8

AAC
G: Kendric Davis (Memphis)
G: Zhuric Phelps (SMU)
G: Jalen Cook (Tulane)
F: DeAndre Williams (Memphis)
F: Kevin Cross (Tulane)
POY: Kendric Davis (Memphis)
ROY: Taylor Hendricks (UCF)
DPOY: Craig Porter (Wichita State)
6TH: Khalif Battle (Temple)
COY: Kelvin Sampson (Houston)

A-10
G: Foster Loyer (Davidson)
G: James Bishop IV (George Washington)
G: Darius Quisenberry (Fordham)
F: Tyler Burton (Richmond)
F: DaRon Holmes II (Dayton)
POY: James Bishop IV (George Washington)
ROY: Jason Nelson (Richmond)
DPOY: Ace Baldwin (VCU)
6TH: RJ Luis (Massachusetts)
COY: Keith Urgo (Fordham)

ACC
G: Jarkel Joiner (NC State)
G: Tyree Appleby (Wake Forest)
F: Armando Bacot (North Carolina)
F: Hunter Tyson (Clemson)
C: Jesse Edwards (Syracuse)
POY: Tyree Appleby (Wake Forest)
ROY: Kyle Filipowski (Duke)
DPOY: Jesse Edwards (Syracuse)
6TH: Nike Sibande (Pitt)
COY: Jeff Capel (Pitt)

Big 12
G: Markquis Nowell (Kansas State)
G: Marcus Carr (Texas)
F: Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
F: Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
C: Tanner Groves (Oklahoma)
POY: Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
ROY: Keyonte George (Baylor)
DPOY: Kevin McCullar Jr. (Kansas)
6TH: Sir’Jabari Rice (Texas)
COY: Rodney Terry (Texas)

Big East
G: Umoja Gibson (DePaul)
G: Souley Boum (Xavier)
F: Bryce Hopkins (Providence)
F: Adama Sanogo (Connecticut)
C: Joel Soriano (St. John’s)
POY: Adama Sanogo (Connecticut)
ROY: Alex Karaban (Connecticut)
DPOY: KC Ndefo (Seton Hall)
6TH: Da’Sean Nelson (DePaul)
COY: Shaka Smart (Marquette)

Big 10
G: Boo Buie (Northwestern)
G: Jalen Pickett (Penn State)
F: Kris Murray (Iowa)
F: Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
C: Zach Edey (Purdue)
POY: Zach Edey (Purdue)
ROY: Brice Sensabaugh (Ohio State)
DPOY: Trayce Jackson-Davis (Indiana)
6TH: Payton Sandfort (Iowa)
COY: Matt Painter (Purdue)

Big West
G: Elijah Pepper (UC-Davis)
G: Zyon Pullin (UC-Riverside)
G: Ajay Mitchell (UCSB)
F: Miles Norris (UCSB)
F: Lassina Traore (Long Beach State)
POY: Elijah Pepper (UC-Davis)
ROY: Roddie Anderson II (UCSD)
DPOY: Jadon Jones (Long Beach State)
6TH: Jamal Hartwell II (UC-Riverside)
COY: Joe Pasternack (UCSB)

C-USA
G: Jordan Walker (UAB)
G: Cobe Williams (Louisiana Tech)
F: Isaiah Crawford (Louisiana Tech)
F: Max Fiedler (Rice)
C: Jacob Germany (UTSA)
POY: Jordan Walker (UAB)
ROY: Arturo Dean (Florida International)
DPOY: Jamarion Sharp (Western Kentucky)
6TH: Johnell Davis (Florida Atlantic)
COY: Dusty May (Florida Atlantic)

Ivy
G: Paxson Wojcik (Brown)
G: Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa (Columbia)
F: Dame Adelekun (Dartmouth)
F: Chris Ledlum (Harvard)
F: Tosan Evbuomwan (Princeton)
POY: Chris Ledlum (Harvard)
ROY: Zinou Bedri (Columbia)
DPOY: Dame Adelekun (Dartmouth)
6TH: Chris Manon (Cornell)
COY: Steve Donahue (Penn)

MAAC
G: Walter Clayton Jr. (Rider)
G: Noah Thomasson (Niagara)
F: Josh Roberts (Manhattan)
F: Nelly Junior Joseph (Iona)
C: Patrick Gardner (Marist)
POY: Patrick Gardner (Marist)
ROY: Tahj Staveskie (Canisius)
DPOY: Nelly Junior Joseph (Iona)
6TH: Jaylen Murray (St. Peter’s)
COY: Kevin Baggett (Rider)

MAC
G: RayJ Dennis (Toledo)
G: Sincere Carry (Kent State)
F: Emoni Bates (Eastern Michigan)
F: Enrique Freeman (Akron)
C: Payton Sparks (Ball State)
POY: RayJ Dennis (Toledo)
ROY: Reggie Bass (Central Michigan)
DPOY: Malique Jacobs (Kent State)
6TH: Rashaun Agee (Bowling Green)
COY: Mike Lewis (Ball State)

MEAC
G: Sam Sessoms (Coppin State)
G: Joe Bryant Jr. (Norfolk State)
F: Steve Settle III (Howard)
F: Kris Bankston (Norfolk State)
C: Brendan Medley-Bacon (NC Central)
POY: Sam Sessoms (Coppin State)
ROY: Jevin Muniz (Delaware State)
DPOY: Eric Boone (NC Central)
6TH: Will Thomas (Morgan State)
COY: Jason Crafton (Maryland-Eastern Shore)

MWC
G: Omari Moore (San Jose State)
G: Isaiah Stevens (Colorado State)
G: EJ Harkless (UNLV)
F: Tyson Degenhart (Boise State)
F: Morris Udeze (New Mexico)
POY: EJ Harkless (UNLV)
ROY: Corbin Green (Air Force)
DPOY: Jaelen House (New Mexico)
6TH: Dan Akin (Utah State)
COY: Ryan Odom (Utah State)

Pac-12
G: Boogie Ellis (USC)
G: Jaime Jaquez Jr. (UCLA)
F: Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona)
F: Keion Brooks Jr. (Washington)
C: Oumar Ballo (Arizona)
POY: Azuolas Tubelis (Arizona)
ROY: Jordan Pope (Oregon State)
DPOY: Jaylen Clark (UCLA)
6TH: Michael Jones (Stanford)
COY: Craig Smith (Utah)

SEC
G: Wade Taylor IV (Texas A&M)
G: Kobe Brown (Missouri)
F: Oscar Tshiebwe (Kentucky)
F: Brandon Miller (Alabama)
F: KJ Williams (LSU)
POY: Brandon Miller (Alabama)
ROY: Brandon Miller (Alabama)
DPOY: Colin Castleton (Florida)
6TH: Kowacie Reeves (Florida)
COY: Nate Oats (Alabama)

SWAC
G: Cam Christon (Grambling)
G: Marcus Garrett (Bethune-Cookman)
G: Kylen Milton (Arkansas-Pine Bluff)
F: Carte’Are Gordon (Grambling)
F: Joirdon Karl Nicholas (Texas Southern)
POY: Marcus Garrett (Bethune-Cookman)
ROY: Zion Harmon (Bethune-Cookman)
DPOY: Yahuza Rasas (Prairie View)
6TH: Dominic Brewton (Alcorn State)
COY: Donte Jackson (Grambling)

WAC
G: Cameron Gooden (Utah Tech)
G: Rayshon Harrison (Grand Canyon)
F: Justin Johnson (UTRGV)
F: Sadaidriene Hall (Stephen F. Austin)
C: Aziz Bandaogo (Utah Valley)
POY: Justin Johnson (UTRGV)
ROY: Chendall Weaver (UT-Arlington)
DPOY: Aziz Bandaogo (Utah Valley)
6TH: Noah Baumann (Grand Canyon)
COY: Mark Madsen (Utah Valley)

Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The CAA Tournament is taking place in Washington, DC, this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD will be covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel keeps things going with a recap of the quarterfinal quadruple-header on Sunday.

The pregame meal was great: make-your-own cheeseburger/chips/granola bar/lemonade. Let’s tip off a LONG day of games:

GAME #1: William & Mary vs. Hofstra

It appears that if the CAA wants a competitive tourney game then I am not the best person to give a credential. William & Mary could not buy a bucket early and fell into a 36-6(!) hole after the 1st 14 minutes. Hofstra G/conference POY Aaron Estrada showed everyone why he deserved such an award with a little of everything in the 1st half: 14 PTS/8 REB (career-high is 10)/2 AST/1 BLK/1 STL/0 TO. The Pride led 51-14 at halftime…and to be honest it did not even seem THAT close. The 2nd half did not go much better as Estrada got some help from his SR backcourt mate Tyler Thomas, who scored 10 PTS on 2-2 FG from 2-PT range and 2-2 FG from 3-PT range. The cherry on top was FR Aiden Best converting a not-so-old-fashioned 4-PT play with 30 seconds left to close out a 94-46 victory for the largest margin of victory in the history of this tourney. In the postgame press conference I asked Hofstra PG Jaquan Carlos how he was able to get back on track after only making 1-9 3PM during his past 4 games. He said that he has just been getting a lot of shots up in practice. His coaches told him that if he misses a shot to not look to the bench but just to keep shooting, which increases his confidence.


GAME #2: Drexel vs. UNC-Wilmington

I had very high hopes for this 1 being a close game, as these 2 teams played a 1-PT double-OT contest last month, and it did not disappoint in the 1st half. The good news was that this 4 vs. 5 game lived up to the hype as Drexel led 38-34 at halftime. The bad news is that Drexel JR Yame Butler hurt his ankle early in the game and a few minutes later was limping to the locker room on crutches with his right foot in a boot:


The 2nd half involved a series of runs by each team. Drexel SR Coletrane Washington made a pair of threes to help gave his team a 57-45 lead with under 13 minutes to play. Instead of folding, UNCW responded with an incredible 16-0 run capped off by a 3 from JR Donovan Newby to give his team a 61-57 lead. The Seahawks’ surprise star was the hot hand of JR Nick Farrar, who had only scored 15 PTS combined in his past 3 games. He made almost everything in the 2nd stanza from both behind the arc and at the rim, finishing the game with 19 PTS/8-10 FG in just 16 minutes of action. Drexel cut the lead to 71-68 with 40 seconds left but could not get any closer as FR Justin Moore missed the potential game-tying 3 from the top of the key with 5 seconds left as UNCW hung on for the 73-68 win. In the postgame press conference I asked Nick if this was the 1st time all year that he received his team’s “Toughness Chain”. He confirmed that this was indeed the 1st time he got it and that he was proud to have competed hard in the most important game of the year.


GAME #3: Stony Brook vs. Charleston

Another delicious pregame meal: spaghetti/meatballs/chicken parmesan/broccoli/tiramisu/lemonade! 1 of the most interested spectators: Charleston coach Pat Kelsey’s son Johnny, who observed the pregame shootaround from the front row:

We had yet another CAA tourney early blowout, as Charleston led 22-2 after 7 minutes thanks to the Cougars making 6-7 FG to begin the festivities while the Seawolves made just 1-6. Stony Brook big man had a big 1st half with 11 PTS on 5-10 FG (including an honest-to-God skyhook!) but Charleston grabbed 25 REB and did not miss a single FT as they coasted into halftime with a 42-26 lead. The Cougars got a big 2nd half performance from big man Ante Brzovic (13 PTS/5-8 FG) as they won handily 74-52. Charleston tied its school record for most wins in 1 season with 29, which had stood for 26 years since their old days in the Trans America Athletic Conference. In the postgame press conference I tried to convince Coach Pat Kelsey to start considering whether his squad is 1 of the best in school/conference history. He declined the bait and said that is for another time in the months ahead, maybe when he is “on a beach with my wife drinking a cold Corona”. The name that did come to his mind was John Kresse, who is an institution at Charleston, so just to be mentioned in the same sentence as 1 of his teams is a huge honor.


GAME #4: Delaware vs. Towson

I am sure that it was an enjoyable game…for people who had not spent the past 10 hours at the arena! That is a wrap for today, check back tomorrow for the semifinal doubleheader.