Atlantic Sun Conference

Liberty's McGhee Repeats as Player of the Year; @ASUN_MBB Postseason Awards Announced

2/13/2022 12:00:00 AM

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ATLANTA, Ga. - For the second season in a row, Liberty's Darius McGhee was named the Player of the Year to highlight the ASUN Conference Men's Basketball Postseason All-Conference accolades, as voted on by the league's head coaches. FGCU garnered both the Defensive Player and Newcomer of the Year honors with the awards being won by Kevin Samuel and Tavian Dunn-Martin, respectively. Central Arkansas' Camren Hunter was tabbed the Freshman of the Year while the Coach of the Year nod went to Jacksonville State's Ray Harper.

McGhee is the first student-athlete to be recognized as Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons since North Florida's Dallas Moore in 2016 and 2017. On the season, the senior poured in 24.7 points per contest, topping the league and ranking second in the nation with a scoring average that ranks as the third-highest in ASUN history. He recorded six 30-plus point outings during the season, scoring over 40 in three of those contests. On Jan. 15 he set the league record for most points in a conference game with 48 points on the road at FGCU. He leads the NCAA in total points (765), total field goals made (258) and total three-pointers made (135).

Samuel took home the third Defensive Player of the Year honor for FGCU after leading the conference in total blocks (90), blocks per game (3.1) and rebounds per game (9.9). The graduate transfer is one of just three active NCAA players to have 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds and is on pace to become the only active player to have each of those along with 300 career blocks (297). Nationally, he ranks fifth in total blocked shots, sixth in blocked shots per game and 10th in total rebounds (286). His 90 blocks are fifth-most all-time for a single season in the ASUN.

For the third time in the program's history, FGCU secured the Newcomer of the Year accolade as Dunn-Martin joined the ranks of Brandon Goodwin (2017) and Schadrac Casimir (2019). The Huntington, W.Va., native was the second-leading scorer in the ASUN this season with 20.8 points per contest which also ranks 11th nationally. He led the league in total assists (180) and assists per game (6.2), both of which rank fifth in the NCAA, while helping the Eagles to 20 wins for the first time since 2017-18. He is the only ASUN player over the last decade to have seven 30-point games in a single season and set the FGCU single-game scoring record with 43 points in the Eagles' first-ever win against Liberty.

Hunter became the first-ever Central Arkansas student-athlete to be named Freshman of the Year after the Bears completed their inaugural season in the ASUN. The true freshman averaged a team-best 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.5 steals for UCA. His scoring average ranked ninth in the conference while he sat fourth in total steals (44), seventh in total points (406) and 12th in free-throw percentage (80.2). The Bryant, Ark., native scored a season-high 25 points on Feb. 16 vs. Bellarmine and recorded two double-doubles during his rookie campaign.

Harper captured his first Coach of the Year accolade after leading his Jacksonville State squad to a 13-3 mark in ASUN play to secure home-court advantage in the ASUN Championship. The Gamecocks sit at third in the nation this season shooting 39.9% from behind the arc while ranking second in the conference with 37.1 rebounds per game and a +4.8 rebounding margin. Harper guided JSU to 20 wins in a season for the fourth time in his six seasons at the helm of the program.

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The ASUN, a Division I conference member of the NCAA, boasts a membership of institutions that share visionary leadership, bold ambition and creative innovation. As a nimble adaptive conference, unafraid to blaze a national pathway for better service to our student-athletes, teams, and institutions, the ASUN has a proud history of firsts, national academic and athletic achievements and a conference culture that walks the walk with its four ASUN Beams. Students First! Rise. Connect. Impact. #ASUNBuilt by Bellarmine (Louisville), Central Arkansas (Conway), Eastern Kentucky (Richmond), FGCU (Fort Myers), Jacksonville (Fla.), Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, Ala.), Kennesaw State (Ga.), Liberty (Lynchburg, Va.), Lipscomb (Nashville), North Alabama (Florence), North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), and Stetson (DeLand, Fla.). Austin Peay, based in Clarksville, Tenn., is set to join the league in the 2022-23 academic year.

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