All-Southern Conference men’s basketball teams announced

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Samford guard Jadin Booth was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year as the league announced its 2025-26 men’s basketball postseason awards on Wednesday. Selections were made by the league’s head coaches of the 10 member institutions.
 

ETSU head coach Brooks Savage was named the Anton Foy Coach of the Year. Booth was also named SoCon Newcomer of the Year and Buccaneers guard Jaylen Smith was named SoCon Sixth Man of the Year. ETSU’s Cam Morris III and Mercer’s Armani Mighty were voted co-SoCon Defensive Player of the Year.

The 2026 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship begins Friday at 5 p.m. at Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville in Asheville, North Carolina, and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Friday’s first round games will appear on ESPN+ as well as select Nexstar affiliates. Saturday’s contests will be broadcast on South Carolina ETV in conjunction with ESPN+. Sunday’s semifinals will air live on ESPNU, and the championship game is scheduled for Monday at 7 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2.
 
All-Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Teams
  
Malcolm U. Pitt Player of the Year
Jadin Booth, Gr., G, Samford
 
Newcomer of the Year
Jadin Booth, Gr., G, Samford

Sixth Man of the Year
Jaylen Smith, Jr., G, ETSU

Defensive Player of the Year
Cam Morris III, Gr., F, ETSU
Armani Mighty, R-Jr., F, Mercer

Anton Foy Coach of the Year
Brooks Savage, ETSU
 
First team
Baraka Okojie, Mercer

Justin Neely, UNCG

Jadin Booth, Samford

Dylan Faulkner, Samford

Kahmare Holmes, Wofford
 
Second team
Cam Morris III, ETSU

Brian Taylor II, ETSU

Alex Wilkins, Furman

Armani Mighty, Mercer

Nils Machowski, Wofford
 
Third team
Blake Barkley, ETSU
Jordan Frison, Chattanooga
TJ Johnson, VMI

Cord Stansberry, Western Carolina

Cayden Vasko, Wofford

 
All-Defensive team
Cam Morris III, ETSU
Allen Strothers, ETSU

Ben VanderWal, Furman

Armani Mighty, Mercer

Dylan Faulkner, Samford

 
Notes

- Jadin Booth is Samford’s first SoCon Player of the Year. Booth led the conference in scoring (21.2 ppg). He was the only player in the SoCon to average over 20 points per game during the regular season and was the only player to score 40 points in a contest this season.

- Booth leads the NCAA in 3-pointers made (119) and 3-pointers made per game (4.10). He also leads the league in 3-point percentage (.431) and free throw percentage (.870).

- Booth is the league’s third recipient of Newcomer of the Year, joining Samford’s Rylan Jones and Chattanooga’s Frank Champion who won the honor in the previous two seasons.

- Cam Morris III is ETSU’s second straight recipient of SoCon Defensive Player of the Year. Morris III is one of just two players in the conference that averages over one block and steal per game. Armani Mighty is Mercer’s first defensive player of the award recipient. Mighty led the league in blocks (54) and offensive rebounds per game (4.10). Both Morris III and Mighty were also voted to the all-defensive team and the second-team all-conference squad.

 
- ETSU’s Jaylen Smith is the conference’s third recipient of Sixth Man of the Year. Smith is in the top 10 in the SoCon in assists (91) and steals (41).
 
- Brooks Savage was the first ETSU coach to be named the Anton Foy Coach of the Year since Steve Forbes received the honor in the 2019-20 season. Savage guided the Bucs to their first regular season crown in six seasons as the squad went 21-10 overall and 13-5 in SoCon play. The Buccaneers enter the Ingles SoCon Basketball Championship as the No. 1 seed.

- Between the all-conference teams and the all-defensive team, five of the 10 squads had at least two representatives.