2024-25 CUSA 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 of the Year). The CUSA awards are voted on by the league’s coaches, sports information directors and a media representative from each school.  
 
Jax State’s Jaron Pierre Jr. claims Player of the Year honors and becomes the first Gamecock to achieve this feat. The redshirt senior guard ranked in the top-three in CUSA play in scoring (2^nd, 20.8), three-pointers per game (2^nd, 3.1), total field goals made (2^nd, 124) and minutes per game (1^st, 38.4), while finishing 7^th and 10^th in field goal percentage and assists, respectively. Overall, Pierre is the nation’s fourth-leading scorer (21.8) and has 20 or more points on 22 occasions and 30 or more five times. The New Orleans native reached a career-high with 36 points and 10 made triples in their win over MTSU on Feb. 6.
 
Jax State head coach Ray Harper was named the Gene Bartow Coach of the Year after leading the Gamecocks to a No. 2 seed in the CUSA Championship after being picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches poll. Harper has kept Jax State atop the CUSA standings all season despite taking a hit with the season-ending injury of Jamar Franklin in the conference opener. In his nine seasons at the helm, Harper has led the Gamecocks to two NCAA Tournament appearances as they seek their first since joining the league.
 
Kennesaw State’s Adrian Wooley, who broke the CUSA record with 11 CUSA Freshman of the Week titles, is the league’s Freshman of the Year. The Tuscaloosa native was the third-leading scorer in CUSA during league play at 19.6 points per game and is currently the fifth-highest scoring freshman in the nation at 18.5 points in 31 contests. The rookie guard has scored in double figures in all but three games for the Owls and is on pace to become the first freshman in CUSA history to average over 17 points and shoot over 50 percent from the floor in a single season.
 
LA Tech’s Daniel Batcho took home Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading CUSA for the second straight season in total blocks (62) and blocks per game (2.00), both of which rank top 30 in the country. The anchor in the middle has recorded multiple blocks in eight of the Bulldogs’ 18 league games. The redshirt senior from Paris, France, had back-to-back performances with a season-high six blocks against Southern and No. 16 Memphis. Batcho has guided LA Tech to the third-best scoring defense (68.1) in CUSA, ranking them 65^th nationally.
 
MTSU’s Essam Mostafa, a TCU transfer, garnered Newcomer of the Year honors after he essentially became a walking double-double, averaging 15.5 points and 9.8 rebounds during conference play. The native of Cairo, Egypt, leads the conference in double-doubles (13), total rebounds (277), offensive rebounds per game (3.43) and rebounds per game (9.2). The 6-9 forward compiled four games with at least 14 points and 16 rebounds including his 30-point, 20-board effort last week against Liberty.
 
Liberty’s Taelon Peter picked up the Sixth Player of the Year award after he anchored the league’s top scoring bench (24.97) with 16.5 points per game in conference action. He came off the bench for all 18 league showdowns and has eclipsed the 20-point mark on eight occasions and been over 30 points three times, including two 33-point efforts, marking the most in Liberty program history off the bench.
 
The All-CUSA First Team consisted of Pierre, Wooley, Mostafa, Batcho and Sam Houston’s Lamar Wilkerson.
 
Wilkerson ended the conference season as the league-leader in scoring at 21.2 points per game. The senior guard has scored in double figures in all 31 games this season and 20 or more points in nine of the 18 league contests. Wilkerson ranked fourth nationally in three-pointers per game (3.48) and three-point percentage (45.6).
 
The All-CUSA Second Team is made up of Kennesaw State’s Simeon Cottle, Liberty’s Kaden Metheny, MTSU’s Jestin Porter, UTEP’s Otis Frazier III and WKU’s Don McHenry.
 
The All-CUSA Third Team includes Peter, his Flame teammate Zach Cleveland, LA Tech’s Sean Newman Jr. and NM State’s Christian Cook and Peter Filipovity.
 
The five honorees for the All-Defensive Team were Batcho, Frazier, FIU’s Vianney Salatchoum, Jax State’s Mason Nicholson and UTEP’s Corey Camper Jr.
 
Wooley, along with Owl teammate Braedan Lue, Jax State’s Quel’Ron House, MTSU’s Torey Alston and WKU’s Julius Thedford were named to the All-Freshman team.  
 
Please see the attached PDF for the full list of awards, including Honorable Mention selections.