SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Chattanooga sophomore guard Malachi Smith was named the consensus Southern Conference Player of the Year as the league announced its 2021-22 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.
The Citadel forward Jason Roche was named the Freshman of the Year by both the coaches and the media. Chattanooga’s Lamont Paris was named the SoCon Coach of the Year by his peers, while the media selected Samford’s Bucky McMillan as the Anton Foy Coach of the Year. Furman’s Jalen Slawson was named the Defensive Player of the Year by the coaches.
The 2022 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+. Saturday’s quarterfinals will appear on ESPN+ as well as select Nexstar affiliates, while Sunday’s semifinals will air live on ESPNU. 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
Malachi Smith, So., G, Chattanooga
Freshman of the Year
Jason Roche, F, The Citadel
Defensive Player of the Year
Jalen Slawson, Sr., F, Furman
Coach of the Year
Lamont Paris, Chattanooga
First team
Mike Bothwell, Sr., G, Furman
Jalen Slawson, Sr., F, Furman
Ques Glover, So., G, Samford
Malachi Smith, So., G, Chattanooga
Jake Stephens, Sr., C, VMI
Second team
Hayden Brown, Gr., F, The Citadel
Ledarrius Brewer, Gr., G, ETSU
Felipe Haase, Sr., F, Mercer
David Jean-Baptiste, Gr., G, Chattanooga
B.J. Mack, Jr., F, Wofford
Third team
Jordan King, So., G, ETSU
David Sloan, Gr., G, ETSU
Trey Bonham, So., G, VMI
Kamdyn Curfman, Jr., G, VMI
Nicholas Robinson, Gr., G, Western Carolina
Max Klesmit, So., G, Wofford
All-freshman team
Jason Roche, F, The Citadel
Mohab Yasser, G, ETSU
Jordan Jones, G, Mercer
Honor Huff, G, VMI
Marcus Banks, G, Western Carolina
SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA)
Malcolm U. Pitt Player of the Year
Malachi Smith, So., G, Chattanooga
Freshman of the Year
Jason Roche, F, The Citadel
Anton Foy Coach of the Year
Bucky McMillan, Samford
First team
Hayden Brown, Gr., F, The Citadel
Jalen Slawson, Sr., F, Furman
Ques Glover, So., G, Samford
Malachi Smith, So., G, Chattanooga
Jake Stephens, Sr., C, VMI
Second team
Mike Bothwell, Sr., G, Furman
Felipe Haase, Sr., F, Mercer
David Jean-Baptiste, Gr., G, Chattanooga
Kamdyn Curfman, Jr., G, VMI
B.J. Mack, Jr., F, Wofford
Third team
Ledarrius Brewer, Gr., G, ETSU
Jordan King, So., G, ETSU
De'Monte Buckingham, Gr., G, UNCG
Trey Bonham, So., G, VMI
Max Klesmit, So., G, Wofford
All-freshman team
Jason Roche, F, The Citadel
Mohab Yasser, G, ETSU
Jordan Jones, G, Mercer
Honor Huff, G, VMI
Marcus Banks, G, Western Carolina
Notes
- Malachi Smith is Chattanooga’s first player of the year since Johnny Taylor was honored by both the coaches and media in 1996-97. He is the Mocs’ fifth selection overall from the coaches and fourth from the media. Smith leads the SoCon in scoring at 20.3 points per game and is tied for seventh in rebounding at 6.6 per contest and tied for 10
th in assists at 3.2 per game. He is fourth in field-goal percentage at .510.
- Smith has also excelled in the classroom, as he is a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 First Team and is on the Academic All-America ballot.
- Four SoCon players earned first-team all-conference honors from both the coaches and media – Smith, Furman’s Jalen Slawson, Samford’s Ques Glover and VMI’s Jake Stephens. The coaches also had Furman’s Mike Bothwell on their first team and the media had The Citadel’s Hayden Brown on theirs.
- Smith and Stephens were both named the SoCon Player of the Week presented by GEICO four times this season, the most for a SoCon player in a single season since Davidson’s Stephen Curry claimed the award eight times in 2008-09.
- Slawson is Furman’s first Defensive Player of the Year. The senior forward leads the league in steals at 1.8 per contest and is fourth in rebounding (7.6) and third in blocked shots (1.7). He is one of just 23 players in NCAA Division I to record a triple-double this season, a feat he accomplished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists against Winthrop on Dec. 7 for the first triple-double in Furman program history.
- Jason Roche is The Citadel’s first Freshman of the Year since Preston Parks in 2016-17. He is the third Bulldog player to earn the honor, with the previous two also claiming it from both the coaches and media. Roche, who has started 28 of 29 games this season, leads the league in minutes played at 35.9 per contest and is second in the SoCon in total made 3-pointers (106) and 3-pointers per game (3.7).
- Lamont Paris is Chattanooga’s first Coach of the Year since 2015-16 and the fourth overall. He has led the Mocs to the regular-season SoCon title and the No. 1 seed in the Ingles SoCon Basketball Championship. Paris’s squad is 24-7 overall and went 14-4 in SoCon play. Chattanooga has spent the entirety of the season ranked in the CollegeInsider.Com Top 25, including seven weeks inside the top 10.
- Bucky McMillan, the media’s pick for Coach of the Year, becomes the first Samford coach to be named SoCon Coach of the Year by either the coaches or the media. He has led the Bulldogs to a 20-10 overall record and a 10-8 league mark for their first-ever winning SoCon record. Samford posted the league’s best record in nonconference play, going 10-2 and knocking off a pair of Power 5 opponents. After sitting in last place at 1-6 in league play on Jan. 22, McMillan guided Samford to wins in nine of its last 11 SoCon games to finish in a tie for third in the standings.
- Between the coaches and media teams, all 10 league squads had at least one all-conference selection.
- The coaches’ and media’s all-freshman teams were identical for the third time in the last four seasons.
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