KERRVILLE, Texas – In exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), senior guard Cedric Harris of Centenary College was selected as SCAC Men’s Basketball Player-of-the-Year while Gents head coach Chris Dorsey was named the league’s Coach-of-the-Year. Complete Release
In that same balloting, Centenary first-year guard Ralph Johnson was voted the league’s Newcomer-of-the-Year award while sophomore guard Cameron Gims of the University of St. Thomas was named the SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year.
Centenary’s awards haul of Player, Newcomer and Coach of the Year marks the fifth time since 2001-02 that one school has won at least a share of three of the league’s four major awards. Texas Lutheran was the last school to reap three of the major awards following the 2015-16 regular season.
Harris, a native of Shreveport, La., finished the 2019-20 season as the league’s second-highest scorer during conference play (20.4 points per game) and is currently third in the league in overall scoring, averaging 19.9 points per game. A two-time Player-of-the-Week during the season, Harris leads the league in three-point field goals made (90) and defensive rebounds (178) and is also ranked in the top five in the league for minutes per game (34.3 – third), field goals made (174 – second), total rebounds (215 – third) and rebounds per game (8.6 – fifth). He enters this weekend’s conference tournament with 1,471 career points, which is tied for the 20th-most in league history, and his 244 three-point field goals are currently seventh all-time. Harris’ selection marks the fifth time a Centenary men’s basketball student-athlete has taken home SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors since the Gents joined the conference prior to the 2012-13 season.
In a very close race, Harris received four votes in the Player-of-the-Year balloting followed by senior forward CooXooEii Black of Colorado College who received three votes. Junior forward Michael Holland of Austin College picked up two first-place votes and senior guard Kennard Robinson of St. Thomas received the remaining first-place vote.
During the regular season, Centenary’s Johnson was second among all first-year conference players in both points (10.8) and assists (3.0) per game with his assist total good for 10th among all players. The first-year point guard from New Iberia, La., was even more prolific in conference games, averaging 12.4 points (20th in the league) and 3.7 assists (tied for sixth) per game while shooting 51.4 percent (fourth) from the field. He had his biggest game of the season on Feb. 14 when he tied for team-high honors with 28 points in a 99-89 victory over St. Thomas. Johnson is the fifth different Centenary men’s basketball player to earn Newcomer-of-the-Year honors, and in the eight years Centenary has been in the SCAC, no men’s basketball program has earned more.
Johnson was the coaches’ clear choice for Newcomer-of-the-Year, earning six votes in the balloting. First-year forward Joshua Sanchez of St. Thomas received two votes while freshman guard Andray Thomas Jr., of Johnson & Wales University and senior guard/forward Jorden Kite of Texas Lutheran University received one vote each.
Gims led the conference in total steals (59) and steals per game (2.4) while averaging only 26.2 minutes played per contest The third team All-SCAC performer also led the league in total blocks (38) and ranked second in blocks per game (1.5) while averaging 5.6 rebounds per game. Gims recorded at least one block in 16 of his team’s 18 conference games, including at least one in the last eight contests. He tallied at least one steal in 23 of the team’s 25 games. The sophomore from Cypress, Texas, also chipped in offensively, averaging 10.5 points per game for the league’s highest scoring offense.
Gims received five votes in the Defensive Player-of-the-Year balloting, followed by junior guard Jamir Mason of Texas Lutheran with two. Junior forward Michael Holland of Austin College, sophomore forward Ty Prince of Centenary and junior forward Mathew Rindahl of Schreiner received one vote each.
In this third season at the helm of the Centenary College program, head coach Chris Dorsey led the Gents to a 13-5 conference mark – the most conference wins in a single season for the program since joining the league in 2012-13. Since arriving in Shreveport, no program has won more SCAC games than Centenary as Dorsey has led the Gents to a cumulative 31-19 mark over that span. The top seed at this year’s conference tournament, the 2019-20 squad enters the event as one of the hottest teams in the nation as winners of eight straight, which is tied for 18th-longest current win streak in the nation. After previously earning a bye as the second seed on three previous occasions, this year marks the first time Centenary has earned the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. The COTY honor is the first for Dorsey and he is just the second Centenary men’s coach to earn the recognition as Adam Walsh was selected the SCAC co-COTY following the 2013-14 season.
2019-20 SCAC PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Cedric Harris, Centenary College, 6-6, Sr., Guard, Shreveport, La.
2019-20 SCAC NEWCOMER-OF-THE-YEAR
Ralph Johnson, Centenary College, 6-0, Fy., Guard, New Iberia, La.
2019-20 SCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Cameron Gims, University of St. Thomas, 6-2, So., Guard, Cypress, Texsa
2019-20 SCAC COACH-OF-THE-YEAR
Chris Dorsey, Centenary College, 16-9 Overall / 13-5 SCAC / Top seed in SCAC Tourney
2019-20 ALL-SCAC FIRST TEAM
Cedric Harris, Centenary, 6-6, Sr., Guard, Shreveport, La.
Cooxooeii Black, Colorado College, 6-7, Sr., Forward, Arapahoe, Wyo.
Michael Holland, Austin College, 6-3, Jr., Forward, Waxahachie, Texas
Kennard Robinson, St. Thomas, 5-10, Sr., Guard, Houston, Texas
Devin Roland, Austin College, 6-5, Sr., Guard/Forward, Little Elm, Texas
2019-20 ALL-SCAC SECOND TEAM
Matthew Rindahl, Schreiner, 6-6, Jr., Forward, Kyle, Texas
Sebastian Andrade, Texas Lutheran, 6-3, Jr., Guard, El Paso, Texas
Brandon Alexander, Southwestern, 6-5, Sr., Forward, Inez, Texas
Nathan Thormaehlen, St. Thomas, 6-6, Sr., Forward, Katy, Texas
Caleb Lister, Texas Lutheran, 6-5, Jr., Forward, Baytown, Texas
2019-20 ALL-SCAC THIRD TEAM
Freddie Ricks III, St. Thomas, 6-3, So., Guard, Cypress, Texas
Ty Prince, Centenary, 6-6, So., Forward, Thorndale, Texas
Aaron Acosta, Colorado College, 6-4, So., Guard, San Diego, Calif.
Cameron Gims, St. Thomas, 6-2, So., Guard, Cypress, Texas
Paul Wells, Schreiner, 6-4, Sr., Forward, Austin, Texas
HONORABLE MENTION (players receiving votes)
Austin College – Justice Mercadel (Jr., G); Centenary – Ralph Johnson (Fy., G), Neil Hawkins (So., F); Dallas – Jai Love (So., G), Dustin Mathis (Jr., G), Michael Wambsganss (Jr., G); Johnson & Wales – Andray Thomas Jr. (Fy., G); Schreiner – Alex Dehoyos (So., G); Southwestern – Kyle Howard (Sr., G); Texas Lutheran – Jorden Kite (Sr., G/F), Jamir Mason (Jr., G); Trinity – Ben Hanley (So., G), David Nickell (So., F)
Coaches voted for 15 places for All-SCAC 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.
