SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Historically close
balloting produced the first tie in the 23-year history of the
award as senior guard Jonathan Blount of Centenary College and
senior guard AJ Myres of Schreiner University were selected as SCAC
Men’s Basketball Co-Players-of-the-Year in exclusive voting
by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
(SCAC). Complete Release
Myres was also awarded the league’s Defensive
Player-of-the-Year award, and first-year forward Kendall Demouchet
of Centenary was voted SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year. Centenary head
coach Adam Walsh and Trinity University head coach Pat Cunningham
split the vote to share SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honors.
Centenary’s Blount is on pace to lead the SCAC in scoring
for the second consecutive year and his 23.9 points per game
average, if sustained, would be the second-highest single game
average in league history. With 597 total points heading into this
weekend’s tournament, Blount is just six points from tying
the SCAC single-season record for points scored. He has also been
efficient this season, shooting 50.6 percent from the field (sixth
in the SCAC), 45.0 percent from three-point range (second in the
SCAC) and 84.8 percent from the free-throw line (third in the
SCAC). A four-time SCAC Player-of-the-Week this season, Blount set
a new Centenary single-game scoring record with 53 points against
Open Bible College on Feb. 18 and currently ranks 11th in program
history in scoring with 1,488 career points. The 2012-13 SCAC
Player-of-the-Year, he becomes just the second men’s player
in league history to earn back-to-back POTY honors and the first
since Sewanee’s Ryan Harrigan in 1996-97 and 1997-98.
Schreiner’s Myres is currently second in the conference in
scoring (18.8 ppg) as well as seventh in assists (75) and eighth in
field goal percentage (48.7%). Although the senior’s scoring
dipped somewhat in the latter part of the season, it was largely
due to the emergence of new scoring threats for the Mountaineers as
evidenced by Myres’ 52 assists during conference play –
the second-highest total in the league. Myres, who is in his third
season at Schreiner, has 1,104 career points – the
second-most by any player in the school’s Division III era
(1999-present) and 11th-most overall. In addition to sharing
Player-of-the-Year honors with Blount, Myres will always be
connected with his counterpart in that he, like Blount, earned SCAC
POTY honors in his first team’s season of competition in the
conference. Prior to last season, only Rose-Hulman’s
Bryan Egli (1998-99) could make that claim.
Myres, who is always pitted against the opponent’s strongest
perimeter player, was also recognized for his prowess on that side
of the court in earning SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year.
Currently fourth in the SCAC in steals (37) and 15th in blocks (7),
he is the first men’s player in the history of the conference
to earn Player-of-the-Year and Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors
in the same season.
Demouchet, who earned SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year honors, currently
sits atop the conference in both steals (46) and field goal
percentage (54.1%) and is second in total blocks (47) and ninth in
rebounds per game (5.0). A Third Team All-SCAC selection, he is
third on the Gents squad in scoring entering this weekend’s
tournament, averaging 10.4 points per game. Demouchet’s
selection marks the second consecutive year that a Centenary player
has won SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year honors.
In his fourth season at the helm of the Centenary program, Walsh
has guided the Gents through the difficult transition from NCAA
Division I to NCAA Division III that began with a 1-29 mark in
2010-11 against mostly Division I competition to this year’s
squad that has posted a 16-9 overall mark (10-4 in conference) and
secured the second seed for this weekend’s SCAC tournament.
This year’s Centenary squad will finish the year with the
program’s first winning season since 2003-04. Following the
difficult 2010-11 season, Walsh has led the Gents to a 36-35
overall mark and his last two teams have produced the SCAC
Player-of-the-Year. Additionally, he is the first men’s
basketball coach at Centenary to earn a conference
Coach-of-the-Year honor since Tommy Vardeman was named the Trans
America Athletic Conference (now Atlantic Sun Conference) COTY in
back-to-back seasons in 1989-90 and 1990-91.
Cunningham, in his 15th season with Trinity, has led the Tigers to
a 16-9 overall mark, an 11-3 conference record and the No. 1 seed
in this year’s conference tournament. This is the sixth time
that Cunningham has been honored as the league’s
Coach-of-the-Year – the most of any men’s basketball
coach in the league’s 23-year history. The winningest
men’s basketball coach in Trinity history, Cunningham has
amassed a record of 290-123 (.702) while in San Antonio and has
guided the Tigers to eight NCAA Division III playoff appearances
and six Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships,
including the last two. Trinity stands at 171-60 (.740) in the SCAC
under Coach Cunningham’s leadership – the second-most
conference wins of any coach in league history. In his 27th season
as a collegiate head coach, Cunningham sports an overall career
mark of 441-286.
2013-14 SCAC CO-PLAYERS-OF-THE-YEAR
Jonathan Blount, Centenary College, 6-1, Sr.,
Guard, Shreveport, La.
AJ Myres, Schreiner University, 5-10, Sr., Guard, The Woodlands,
Texas
2013-14 SCAC NEWCOMER-OF-THE-YEAR
Kendall Demouchet, Centenary College, 6-4, Fy.,
Forward, Lafayette, La.
2013-14 SCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
AJ Myres, Schreiner University, 5-10, Sr., Guard,
The Woodlands, Texas
2013-14 SCAC CO-COACHES-OF-THE-YEAR
Pat Cunningham, Trinity, 16-9 Overall, 11-3 SCAC,
Top seed in SCAC Tourney
Adam Walsh, Centenary, 16-9 Overall, 10-4 SCAC, Second seed in
SCAC Tourney
2013-14
ALL-SCAC FIRST TEAM
Jonathan Blount, Centenary, 6-1, Sr., Guard,
Shreveport, La.
AJ Myres, Schreiner, 5-10, Sr., Guard, The Woodlands, Texas
Robert Kitzinger, Trinity, 6-7, Sr., Guard, Carmel, Ind.
Chris Lesnansky, Colo. College, 6-6, Jr., Forward, Denver,
Colo.
Ryan Milne, Colo. College, 5-9, Sr., Guard, Phoenix, Ariz.
2013-14 ALL-SCAC SECOND TEAM
Ross Davidson, Dallas, 6-7, Sr., Forward/Center,
Dana Point, Calif.
Ransom Okpala, Austin College, 5-11, Sr., Guard, Katy, Texas
Steven Guerrero, Schreiner, 6-2, Jr., Guard, Edinburg, Texas
Michael Cantu, Southwestern, 6-0, Sr., Guard, Corpus Christi,
Texas
Zach Lambert, Trinity, 6-4, Sr., Forward, Frisco, Texas
2013-14 ALL-SCAC THIRD TEAM
Aaron Wyatt, Dallas, 6-5, Jr., Forward, Frisco,
Texas
Kendall Demouchet, Centenary, 6-4, Fy., Forward, Lafayette,
La.
Nate Wilson, Dallas, 6-2, Sr., Guard, Fairbanks, Alaska
Caden Cheramie, Centenary, 6-1, Jr., Guard, Galliano, La.
Garrett Wilkins, Texas Lutheran, 6-2, Jr., Guard, Austin,
Texas
HONORABLE MENTION (players receiving votes)
Austin College – Austin
Freet (Fy., F), Jeremy Swisher (Fy., G); Colorado
College – Justin Berardino (So., G);
Schreiner – Wes Miller (Fy., F), Maverick
Harris (Fy., G); Southwestern – Blake Scott
(Jr., G), Chase Kocher (Sr., G); Texas Lutheran
– Troy Griffith (Sr., F), Jordan Kouremetis (Fy., G);
Trinity – William Young (Jr., G), Matt
Selling (Jr., G)
First-place votes in parentheses. Voting totals based on
coaches’ votes with 15 points awarded for first-place votes,
14 points for second-place votes, 13 points for third-place votes,
etc., down to one point for a 15th-place vote. All players not
elected to the First, Second or Third Team, but who received at
least one vote, were named Honorable Mention. Coaches could not
vote for their own players.
For the complete release, click here.
