Conference Carolinas Announces Basketball Award Winners
High Point, NC - Conference Carolinas announced
the All-Conference teams during this week's Conference Carolinas
Men's & Women's Basketball Championship Tournament at Tuesday
Night’s awards presentation at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in
Uptown, Charlotte. Awards include All-Conference First, Second,
& Third teams, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player
of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and Regular
Season Champions. Head coaches from conference member institutions
nominate and then vote on the award winners who represent the best
of the best for the league.
The conference championships started Saturday with the top eight
teams qualifying for quarterfinal action. Semifinal play resumes
Wednesday with the championship finals on Thursday. All games are
being played at the Cabarrus Arena & Event Center, in Concord,
NC. Both the women's and men’s tournament champion
receive an automatic berth to the NCAA DII championships.
Women's
Player of the Year
Nyeshea Willie, Barton
Senior guard Nyeshea Willie was named the Conference Carolinas
Player of the Year for a second straight season after capturing the
league’s scoring title. Willie enters postseason play ranked
third in NCAA Division II with 24.0 points per game. Willie also
captured three Conference Carolinas Player of the Week awards
during the season. The Virginia Beach, Va., product passed the
2,000 point barrier late in the season and ranks first in the
league in free throw percentage (87%), second in steals (2.46) and
fourth in assists (3.1). Willie was the conference Freshman of the
Year in 2010 and has earned All-Conference recognition all four
years. Willie scored in double figures in 25 of 26 regular
season games (and the only time she did not reach 10-plus points
was due to a game-ending injury that will most likely to cause her
to miss all of Barton’s postseason).
Women's
Defensive Player of the Year
Alicia Brookins, Limestone
Junior forward Alicia Brookins (Auburn, Ga.) anchored the
2013-14 Conference Carolinas Regular Season Champs and the
league’s top-ranked defense as she was often locked in on the
opposing team’s top scoring threat. She was the guiding force
in helping the Saints limit their opposition to a mere 61.9 points
per game and played a key role in holding opponents to 60 or less
points 15 times during the 2013-14 season. Overall, she ripped off
57 steals during the season, but has dialed up the pressure as of
late as half of those steals have come during Limestone’s
current nine-game win streak. She ranks fifth in the conference in
thefts and is sixth with 2.1 steals per game.
Women's
Freshman of the Year
Raygon Hendrix, Erskine
Erskine’s Raygon Hendrix led the Flying Fleet not only in
scoring and assists this season, averaging 13.3 points and 3.9 from
her point guard position, but also directed the Flying Fleet to a
winning record this season after winning only three games the
previous year. In addition, the 5’2 guard led the
conference in steals per game at 2.6 and finished in the top 10 in
scoring and assists per game.
Women's
Coach of the Year
Jason Williams, Belmont Abbey
In his first year on the Abbey sideline, Jason Williams becomes
the first Belmont Abbey women’s basketball coach to be named
Conference Coach of the Year. In 2013-14, four Crusaders were
selected to the all-conference teams, which is the most in school
history. In addition, McKenzie Owen’s first team selection is
the Abbey’s first since the 2007-08 season. Williams led the
Crusaders to their first 20-win season in 10 years, its first
regional ranking and highest conference finish in the same time
period. Belmont Abbey also received a vote in the national poll for
the first time. Belmont Abbey finished the season ranked in
the top five in the league in 19 of 26 statistical categories.
Women's
All-Conference 1st-Team
Nyeshea Willie, Barton
McKenzie Owen, Belmont Abbey
Celestra Warren, Limestone
Jasmine McDonald, Mount Olive
Ayshia McNeil, Limestone
Women's
All-Conference 2nd-Team
Morgan Midkiff, Belmont Abbey
Lauren Lewis, Lees-McRae
Katie Paschal, Mount Olive
Raygon Hendrix, Erskine
Bonnie Durrett, King
Women's
All-Conference 3rd-Team
Candace Fox, Belmont Abbey
Timisty Nelson, North Greenville
Kelsey Long, Belmont Abbey
Alyssa Munson, Lees-McRae
Alisha Hope, North Greenville
Women's
Regular Season Champions
Limestone College
Men's
Player of the Year
Chris Flemmings, Barton
Sophomore wing Chris Flemmings helped the Barton College
men’s basketball team earn a share of the Conference
Carolinas regular season title for a second straight year by
averaging team-best totals of 20.0 points per game and 6.8 rebounds
per game. Flemmings ranks 43rd in NCAA Division II in scoring and
has been even more impressive in league play averaging 22.2 points
in 16 conference games as Barton finished with a 12-4 league
record. The Cary, N.C., product has five double-doubles on the
season and has scored in double figures in 25 of 27 games.
Flemmings also ranks sixth in the league in field goal percentage
(47.9%) and eighth in made 3-pointers per game (2.44).
Men's
Defensive Player of the Year
Chris Gore, Erskine
Erskine’s Chris Gore helped the Flying Fleet to easily
lead the conference in scoring defense, yielding just 66.5 points
per game, 28th in the nation. The 6’7 senior post
player put together his finest season leading the team in
rebounding and blocks at 11.7 boards per game and 46 blocks, second
and fourth overall respectively in Conference Carolinas. Gore
also led the team with 8 double-doubles on the season.
Men's
Freshman of the Year
Hunter LeVeau, King
LeVeau has had a spectacular rookie campaign as he is
King’s second-leading scorer with an average of 14.0 points
per game. He has poured in at least 20 points eight times,
including his career-high of 27 points twice. He reached the mark
for the first time in his third career game, against #15 Lincoln
Memorial University. He matched against University of Mount Olive
when he made nine of his 11 shots, and going 7-for-9 from
three-point range. The Johnson City, Tenn., native has been an
all-around performer for the Tornado, posting a team-high three
double-doubles this season. He is among the Conference Carolinas
leaders in rebounding and three-point shooting. LeVeau averages 6.1
boards per game to rank him 10th in the league, and makes 41.6
percent of three-point attempts, ranking him seventh in Conference
Carolinas.
Men's
Coach of the Year
Joey Higginbotham, Mount Olive
University of Mount Olive won 10 of its final 11 regular season
games to capture a share of its third Conference Carolinas regular
season championship under sixth-year head coach Joey Higginbotham.
The Trojans won three conference road games in six days during the
final full week of the regular season and posted its second win of
the season over regular season co-champion Barton to earn the top
seed in the Conference Carolinas Men’s Basketball Tournament.
Higginbotham recorded his 100th career win January 4.
Men's
All-Conference 1st-Team
Chris Flemmings, Barton
PJ Foster, Limestone
Dontrell Brite, Mount Olive
Phillip Brown, North Greenville
Roderick Perkins, Erskine
Men's
All-Conference 2nd-Team
Logan Lyle, King
Dory Hines, Mount Olive
Josh Odem, Limestone
Darryl Durham, Belmont Abbey
Hunter LeVeau, King
Men's
All-Conference 3rd-Team
Brian McNair, Barton
Keith Johnson, North Greenville
Mike Gabbard, Erskine
Mike Smith, Pfeiffer
AJ Clark, Pfeiffer
Men's
Regular Season Co-Champions
Barton College & University of Mount Olive