2022-23 C-USA MBB Postseason Awards (PDF)
 
DALLAS – Conference USA has announced its postseason Men’s Basketball All-Conference, All-Freshman, All-Defensive Teams along with the Superlative Awards (Newcomer, Sixth Player, Defensive, Freshman, Player and Coach). The C-USA awards are voted on by the league’s coaches, sports information directors and a media representative from each school.  
 
North Texas’ Tylor Perry became just the second Mean Green student-athlete to be named Player of the Year, joining Javion Hamlet in 2020. FIU’s Arturo Dean, who won four Freshman of the Week awards this season, is the league’s Freshman of the Year. Florida Atlantic head coach Dusty May claimed the Gene Bartow Coach of the Year honor after he led the Owls to their first C-USA regular-season title and the top seed in this week’s C-USA Basketball Championship with an 18-2 record in league play. 
 
Perry led the league and ranked 10^th nationally in three-point percentage (42.6), while averaging 17 points per game to help UNT tie program records for wins (25) and conference wins (16). He ranked second in C-USA in threes made per game (3.2), including five games with at least five made threes. Perry also paced the conference in free-throw percentage (89.0) and sank 51 of his last 55 attempts (92.7) as the Mean Green went 10-1 to close the regular season.  
 
Dean led all Division I freshman and set the Panthers’ single-season record for steals by a freshman (76). His 2.45 steals per game ranked eighth in the country and landed him on the league’s all-defensive team as well. The Miami native regularly stuffed the stat sheet with 11.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. Dean’s 53 steals in conference play tied for the second-most in the league’s single-season history.   
 
May orchestrated one of the finest campaigns not only in program history, but in C-USA history, as the Owls set or tied league records for conference wins (18), home conference wins (10) and road conference wins (eight). FAU’s 28 wins and 17 home wins each rank 11^th in the C-USA record book. The Owls rattled off 20-straight wins, which tied for the fourth-longest streak in league history and helped them climb as high as 19 in the AP Poll.  
 
WKU’s Jamarion Sharp was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the second-straight season, making him the fifth in conference history to repeat for the top defensive honor. Sharp leads the nation in blocks per game (4.23) and tallied 10 games with at least six blocks. The big man ranks third in C-USA with 8.1 rebounds per game in conference play.  
 
North Texas’ Kai Huntsberry garnered Newcomer of the Year honors after he impressed in his first year with the Mean Green, averaging 11.8 points and 3.2 assists per game in league action. During the team’s eight-game winning streak from Jan. 21-Feb. 18, he averaged 15.3 points and 4.1 assists per game and recorded three games with at least 19 points and five assists.    
 
Florida Atlantic’s Johnell Davis picked up the Sixth Player of the Year award after he anchored the nation’s top bench scoring output (36.74) with 15.1 points per game mostly off the bench in C-USA games. The Gary, Indiana, product came off the bench for 16 of the team’s 20 games against C-USA foes.  
 
The C-USA All-First Team consisted of North Texas’ Perry, FAU’s Davis, UAB’s Jordan “Jelly” Walker, FIU’s Denver Jones and Florida Atlantic’s Alijah Martin.  
 
One of the most electric players in the country, Walker finished third in Division I in points per game (23.2) and three-pointers made per game (4.36). He ranked fourth in C-USA in assists per game (4.2) and third in assist-turnover ratio (1.5).  
 
Jones finished second only to Walker on the league’s scoring leaderboard and was one of just 26 Division I players to average 20 points per game on the year (20.0). He also ranked second in the conference in field-goal percentage (48.1) and free-throw percentage (85.5).  
 
Martin was a key cog in the Owls’ balanced offense, averaging 12.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 three-pointers made per game. He led FAU in scoring on nine occasions this season, which marked the most by any Owl this season.  
 
The five honorees for the All-Defensive Team were FIU’s Dean, WKU’s Sharp, Middle Tennessee’s Teafale Lenard, Jr., North Texas’ Rubin Jones and UAB’s Trey Jemison.   
 
FIU’s Dean, along with Panther teammate Dashon Gittens, LA Tech’s Jordan Crawford, Rice’s Mekhi Mason and UTSA’s DJ Richards were named to the All-Freshman team.  
 
Please see the attached PDF for the full list of awards, including All-Conference Second Team, Third Team and Honorable Mention selections.