Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
| Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Awarded for | the most outstanding basketball player in the Southern Conference |
| Country | United States |
| History | |
| First award | 1952 |
| Most recent | Isaiah Miller, UNC Greensboro |
The Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Southern Conference's (SoCon) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1951–52 season. Fred Hetzel of Davidson is the only player to have won the award three times (1963–1965). Sixteen other players have won the award twice, most recently done by Isaiah Miller of UNC Greensboro (2020, 2021).
Davidson has the most all-time winners with 13, but it left the SoCon after the 2013–14 season to join the Atlantic 10 Conference. Among current members, Furman leads with 12 winners. There have also been nine ties in the award's history, but only one (1970–71 season) which occurred prior to the 1989–90 season. That season was the first for two separate player of the year awards—one by the Southern Conference men's basketball coaches, and the other by conference media members. When both the coaches and media select the same player, he is the consensus conference player of the year.
The only current members that have never had a winner are Samford and Mercer. Both are among the SoCon's newer members, having respectively joined in 2008 and 2014.
Key[]
| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| * | Awarded a national Player of the Year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) |
| C | SoCon coaches' selection (1990–present) |
| M | SoCon media's selection (1990–present) |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the SoCon Player of the Year award at that point |
Winners[]
Winners by school[]
| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Davidson (1936)[a 1] | 13 | 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012 (×2),[a 2] 2013, 2014 |
| Furman (1936) | 12 | 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1998†, 2016, 2017 |
| East Tennessee State (1978, 2014)[a 3] | 6 | 1983, 1990†, 1991, 2002†, 2004, 2018† |
| Chattanooga (1976) | 5 | 1982, 1992†, 1993, 1994†, 1997 |
| VMI (1924, 2014)[a 4] | 5 | 1977, 1978, 1986, 1987, 2002† |
| West Virginia (1950)[a 5] | 5 | 1957, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1968 |
| Western Carolina (1976) | 5 | 1992†, 1994†, 1995, 1996, 1998† |
| Wofford (1997) | 4 | 2010, 2011, 2015, 2018, 2019 |
| College of Charleston (1998)[a 6] | 4 | 1999, 2001, 2003, 2011 |
| Appalachian State (1971)[a 7] | 3 | 1981, 2000, 2010† |
| The Citadel (1936) | 3 | 1976, 1984, 1985 |
| Marshall (1976)[a 8] | 3 | 1988, 1989, 1990† |
| UNC Greensboro (1997) | 3 | 2007, 2020, 2021 |
| Richmond (1936)[a 9] | 2 | 1967, 1973 |
| William & Mary (1936)[a 10] | 2 | 1961, 1971† |
| Duke (1928)[a 11] | 1 | 1952 |
| East Carolina (1964)[a 12] | 1 | 1971† |
| Georgia Southern (1991)[a 7] | 1 | 2006 |
| Washington and Lee (1921)[a 13] | 1 | 1958 |
| Elon (2003)[a 14] | 0 | — |
| Mercer (2014) | 0 | — |
| Samford (2008) | 0 | — |
Footnotes[]
- ^ Davidson College left in 2014 to join the Atlantic 10 Conference (A10).
- ^ In 2011–12, Davidson had both co-players of the year, so each of them are counted when it comes to total awardees.
- ^ East Tennessee State University left in 2005 to join the Atlantic Sun Conference and returned in 2014.
- ^ Virginia Military Institute left in 2003 to join the Big South Conference and returned in 2014.
- ^ West Virginia University left in 1968 to become an independent. The Mountaineers are now in the Big 12 Conference.
- ^ The College of Charleston left in 2013 to join the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
- ^ a b Appalachian State University and Georgia Southern University left in 2014 to join the Sun Belt Conference.
- ^ Marshall University left in 1997 to join the Mid-American Conference. The Thundering Herd are now in Conference USA (C-USA).
- ^ The University of Richmond left in 1976 to become an independent. The Spiders are now in the A10.
- ^ The College of William & Mary left in 1977 to join the ECAC. When the ECAC split its basketball section into multiple conferences in 1982, William & Mary became a charter member of the ECAC South basketball league. The Tribe remain in the conference, which is now the CAA.
- ^ Duke University left in 1953 to become a charter member of the ACC.
- ^ East Carolina University left in 1976 to become an independent. The Pirates are now in the American Athletic Conference.
- ^ Washington and Lee University left in 1958. They are now in the Division III Old Dominion Athletic Conference.
- ^ Elon University left in 2014 to join the CAA.
References[]
- "Southern Conference Men's Basketball Yearly Honors and Awards" (pdf). Southern Conference. p. 1. Retrieved 31 March 2010..
- Awards established in 1952
- NCAA Division I men's basketball conference players of the year
- Southern Conference men's basketball