SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Southern Conference announced the 2019-20 men’s basketball postseason awards Wednesday. Selections include the coaches’ all-conference teams and specialty awards in addition to the Southern Conference Sports Media Association all-conference teams and awards.
UNC Greensboro junior guard Isaiah Miller was voted the player of the year by both the coaches and media and was the coaches’ pick for defensive player of the year for a second straight season. The coaches and media also agreed on Steve Forbes as the coach of the year and both groups named VMI’s Travis Evee the freshman of the year, with UNCG guard Keyshaun Langley sharing the award among the coaches’ picks.
The 2020 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale begins Friday at 5 p.m. at Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina. The championship game is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.
Coaches All-Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Teams
Player of the Year
Isaiah Miller, Jr., G, UNCG
Freshman of the Year
Keyshaun Langley, G, UNCG
Travis Evee, G, VMI
Defensive Player of the Year
Isaiah Miller, Jr., G, UNCG
Coach of the Year
Steve Forbes, ETSU
First team
Bo Hodges, ETSU
Jordan Lyons, Furman
Isaiah Miller, UNCG
Carlos Dotson, Western Carolina
Mason Faulkner, Western Carolina
Second team
Tray Boyd III, ETSU
Djordje Dimitrijevic, Mercer
Ethan Stair, Mercer
Matt Ryan, Chattanooga
Nathan Hoover, Wofford
Third team
Noah Gurley, Furman
Clay Mounce, Furman
James Dickey, UNCG
Josh Sharkey, Samford
Ramon Vila, Chattanooga
All-freshman team
Fletcher Abee, The Citadel
Kamar Robertson, Mercer
Keyshaun Langley, UNCG
Travis Evee, VMI
Messiah Jones, Wofford
SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA)
Malcolm U. Pitt Player of the Year
Isaiah Miller, Jr., G, UNCG
Freshman of the Year
Travis Evee, G, VMI
Anton Foy Coach of the Year
Steve Forbes, ETSU
First team
Tray Boyd III, ETSU
Jordan Lyons, Furman
Djordje Dimitrijevic, Mercer
Isaiah Miller, UNCG
Carlos Dotson, Western Carolina
Second team
Bo Hodges, ETSU
Ethan Stair, Mercer
Josh Sharkey, Samford
Matt Ryan, Chattanooga
Mason Faulkner, Western Carolina
Third team
Noah Gurley, Furman
Clay Mounce, Furman
James Dickey, UNCG
Ramon Vila, Chattanooga
Nathan Hoover, Wofford
All-freshman team
Fletcher Abee, The Citadel
Kamar Robertson, Mercer
Keyshaun Langley, UNCG
Travis Evee, VMI
Messiah Jones, Wofford
Notes
- UNCG’s Isaiah Miller is the first Spartan to earn player of the year honors since Kyle Hines earned the distinction from both the coaches and media in 2006-07. Miller joins Hines as the only UNCG players to earn the honor.
- The coaches and media both placed Miller, Furman’s Jordan Lyon’s, and Western Carolina’s Carlos Dotson on their all-conference first teams.
- Dotson is the first Catamount player to earn consensus first-team honors since James Sinclair in 2014-15.
- Miller has earned first-team honors in consecutive seasons and was the only holdover from last year’s coaches’ first team, which featured four seniors.
- Miller is second in the SoCon in scoring (17.8 points per game) and steals (2.7 per game).
- With 235 steals in his career, Miller is just one away from entering the SoCon’s career top 10.
- Miller’s defensive player of the year award is his second straight and is UNCG’s third straight overall. Teammate James Dickey earned the honor two seasons ago, becoming the first Spartan to do so. UNCG becomes the second school to have three straight winners, as Chattanooga’s Justin Tuoyo won it each year from 2014-15 to 2016-17.
- VMI’s Travis Evee is the league’s highest-scoring freshman at 12.1 points per game. He is the Keydets’ third coaches’ freshman of the year and the media’s ninth. The media have selected the award since 1978-79, while the coaches added the award in 1992-93. Evee is the second VMI player in three seasons to earn the award from the media.
- UNCG’s Keyshaun Langley has appeared in all 31 games off the bench for the Spartans so far. He is the first Spartan to earn freshman of the year honors from the coaches since Tevon Saddler in 2013-14.
- Steve Forbes’ selection as coach of the year is his first. Forbes led the Bucs to the regular-season title with a 27-4 overall record, a program record for regular-season wins, and a 16-2 SoCon mark. The regular-season title is ETSU’s ninth in the SoCon and first since 2016-17.
- All 10 league squads had at least one all-conference or all-freshman selection.
- For the second straight year, the coaches’ and media’s all-freshman teams were identical.
-www.SoConSports.com-