LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- In exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), sophomore guard Kaleb Jenkins of Trinity University was selected as SCAC Men’s Basketball Player-of-the-Year while Tigers’ head coach Jimmy Smith, along with University of St. Thomas head coach Anthony Medina, earned SCAC Co-Coach-of-the-Year honors. Complete Release
In that same balloting, St. Thomas first-year guard/forward Adam Kanafani was voted the league’s Newcomer-of-the-Year award while junior guard Cameron Gims of St. Thomas was named SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year for the second consecutive year.
St. Thomas’ awards haul of Newcomer, Defensive and Coach of the Year marks the sixth time since 2001-02 that one school has won at least a share of three of the league’s four major awards. Centenary was the last school to do it, as the Gents took home Player, Newcomer and Coach-of-the-Year a season ago.
Jenkins, a native of New Orleans, La., is currently ranked in the Top 20 in the SCAC in almost statistical category including points per game (14.0 – ninth), points per 40 minutes (22.0 – third), rebounds per game (5.4 – 18th), assists per game (1.7 – 19th), steals per game (1.6 – 11th), field goal percentage (47.3 – 12th), three-point field goal percentage (42.5 – third), three-pointers made per game (1.7 – eighth) and free throw percentage (67.3 percent – 16th). His 30-point, 11-rebound effort against Schreiner on Feb. 27 sealed the top seed for Trinity heading into the conference postseason and earned him Player-of-the-Week honors in the process. The 30-point performance was the second highest single game total posted in the league this season. Jenkins is just the second men’s player from Trinity to earn SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors and the first since Quintin Mason took home the league’s top honor for the 1999-2000 season.
Jenkins received five votes in the Player-of-the-Year balloting followed by junior guard Kyle Poerschke of Southwestern University who received two votes. Senior forward Michael Holland of Austin College and sophomore forward Seth Thomas of Centenary College each received one first-place vote.
Heading into this weekend’s semifinal tournament round, St. Thomas’ Kanafani is eighth in the SCAC in scoring (14.1 points per game) and fourth in rebounding (8.3 per game), which ranks first and second, respectively, among all first-year conference players. He is shooting 49.2 percent from the field (10th in the SCAC), including 33.3 percent from three-point range (T14th in the SCAC). A second team All-SCAC selection, Kanafani leads the Celts in both scoring and rebounding this season. His 32-point performance at Schreiner on Jan. 29, when he hit 13 of 17 shots from the field, was the highest single-game scoring effort in the league this season.
Kanafani was the coaches’ clear choice for Newcomer-of-the-Year, earning six votes in the balloting. Trinity’s Jenkins received two votes while freshman forward Jack Boyle of University of Dallas received the remaining first place vote.
Gims is currently fifth in the league in steals (1.9 per game) and second in blocks (1.7 per game) – the only player in the league ranked in the top five in both categories. The second team All-SCAC performer leads the league in total rebounds (100) and is sixth in boards per game (6.6) for the top rebounding team in the league (+7.1 margin). Gims has recorded at least one block in 12 of his team’s 13 games, including a season-equaling high of three, to go along with four steals, in the Celts’ 84-76 quarterfinal victory against Dallas. Gims is just the fourth men’s player to win back-to-back SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year awards and the first since Centre’s Alex Lloyd received similar accolades in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Gims received four votes in the Defensive Player-of-the-Year balloting, followed by sophomore forward Seth Thomas of Centenary with two. Senior forward Michael Holland of Austin College, freshman forward Garrett Prince of Texas Lutheran University and junior forward Letrell Toussaint of Dallas received one vote each.
In his sixth season at St. Thomas, head coach Anthony Medina has compiled a 95-65 record (.594), which includes this year’s squad that went 7-3 in league play, is currently 9-4 overall and earned the No. 2 seed for the SCAC Basketball Tournament. A UST grad and just the second head coach in program history, Medina has quickly established his program as a conference force as the Celts went 23-2 in the school’s first year in the league, earning the SCAC regular season title as well as a trip to the USCAAA D1 Men’s Basketball Tournament. His selection as Co Coach-of-the-Year earns Medina the distinction of being the first coach from St. Thomas to earn SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honors.
Although in his inaugural season at the helm of the Trinity University program, head coach Jimmy Smith is no stranger to the SCAC, having led Schreiner University and Texas Lutheran during successful stints at both institutions. Smith made his presence felt quickly in San Antonio as his team matched last year’s conference win total in half as many games, posting a league-best 8-1 mark to earn the top seed for the SCAC Basketball Tournament. The Tigers sit at 9-1 overall heading into this weekend’s semifinal round. With this year’s Co-COTY recognition, Smith becomes the first coach in SCAC basketball history to earn conference Coach-of-the-Year honors at two different institutions as he previously earned the honor in back-to-back seasons when he led Texas Lutheran to SCAC regular season and tournament titles in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
2020-21 SCAC PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Kaleb Jenkins, Trinity University, 5-10, So., Guard, New Orleans, La.
2020-21 SCAC NEWCOMER-OF-THE-YEAR
Adam Kanafani, University of St. Thomas, 6-3, Fy., Guard/Forward, Houston, Texas
2020-21 SCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Cameron Gims, University of St. Thomas, 6-2, Jr., Guard, Cypress, Texsa
2020-21 SCAC CO-COACHES-OF-THE-YEAR
Anthony Media, University of St. Thomas, 9-4 Overall | 7-3 SCAC | Second seed in SCAC Tourney
Jimmy Smith, Trinity University, 9-1 Overall | 8-1 SCAC | Top seed in SCAC Tourney
2020-21 ALL-SCAC FIRST TEAM
Kaleb Jenkins, Trinity, 5-10, So., Guard, New Orleans, La.
Kyle Poerschke, Southwestern, 6-4, Jr., Guard, Houston, Texas
Seth Thomas, Centenary, 6-5, So., Forward, Kilgore, Texas
Jai Love, Dallas, 5-9, Jr., Guard, St. Louis, Mo.
Michael Holland, Austin College, 6-3, Sr., Forward, Waxahachie, Texas
2020-21 ALL-SCAC SECOND TEAM
Sebastian Andrade, Texas Lutheran, 6-3, Sr., Guard, El Paso, Texas
Juan Hood, St. Thomas, 5-10, Jr., Guard, Magnolia, Texas
Cameron Gims, St. Thomas, 6-2, Jr., Guard, Cypress, Texas
Adam Kanafani, St. Thomas, 6-3, Fy., Guard/Forward, Houston, Texas
Tanner Brown, Trinity, 6-3, Fy., Guard, San Antonio, Texas
Matthew Rindahl, Schreiner, 6-6, Sr., Forward, Kyle, Texas
2019-20 ALL-SCAC THIRD TEAM
Ralph Johnson, Centenary, 6-0, So., Guard, New Iberia, La.
AJ Clark, Trinity, 6-3, Jr., Guard, San Antonio, Texas
Letrell Toussaint, Dallas, 6-7, Jr., Forward, Waco, Texas
Enzo Sechi, Trinity, 6-6, So., Forward, Houston, Texas
Christian Alaekwe, St. Thomas, 6-4, Sr., Guard, Fresno, Texas
HONORABLE MENTION (players receiving votes)
Austin College – Tristan Dick (So., G); Colorado College – Jack McRoskey (Jr., G); Dallas – Dustin Mathis (Sr., G); Schreiner – Alex Dehoyos (Jr., G); Southwestern – Trenton Garrett (Sr., F); St. Thomas – Joshua Sanchez (So., F); Texas Lutheran – Caleb Lister (Sr., F), Garrett Prince (Fy., F); Trinity – Ben Hanley (Jr., G)
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.
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