Conference Carolinas Unveils 2022-23 Men’s Basketball All-Conference Honors
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Conference Carolinas released its 2022-23 men's basketball awards on Thursday, March 2, ahead of the start of the 2023 Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Championship on Friday, March 3 at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
The 2022-23 all-conference awards were chosen by the league's head coaches.
Junior KJ Jones II of Emmanuel was selected as the Player of the Year. The Atlanta, Georgia native is the fourth player in league history to win the award twice as he earned the honor following the 2020-21 campaign. The 6-foot-6 guard helped lead the Lions to a 21-7 mark in the regular season and a 17-3 record in league play and the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. Jones II currently leads NCAA Division II in points (685) and points per game at 26.3. He is sixth in Conference Carolinas in rebounding at 7.4 per contest and he is shooting at a 50 percent clip (190-380). He ranks third in the league in free throw percentage (.861) and seventh in 3-point field goal percentage (.420). He is also sixth in steals (44) and eighth in assists (90).
Trevon Spencer became the first Barton men’s basketball student-athlete to win Defensive Player of the Year honors. The 6-foot-5 guard from Columbia, North Carolina leads the league in blocked shots with 51 and has 25 steals and 67 defensive rebounds on the season. He also averages 12.3 points per contest for the Bulldogs.
Emmanuel freshman Tavarus Webb was named Freshman of the Year, the first Lions men’s basketball student-athlete to earn the honor in league history. A big reason the Lions are the No. 2 seed this season, Webb is third in Conference Carolinas with 49 steals and sixth in blocked shots with 33. The 6-foot-4 Harwell, Georgia native is also 10th in the league in field goal percentage (.543), free throw percentage (.790) and rebounds (6.7 per game). The guard is second on the team and 12th in the league in scoring at 14.6 per game.
UNC Pembroke head coach Drew Richards was chosen as the Coach of the Year for the second straight season as he led the Braves to a 26-2 record overall and an 18-2 mark in conference play as well as a top-10 national ranking this season. The Braves claimed back-to-back regular-season conference championships and are the top seed in the tournament.
2022-23 Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball All-Conference
Player of the Year
KJ Jones II, Emmanuel
Defensive Player of the Year
Trevon Spencer, Barton
Freshman of the Year
Tavarus Webb, Emmanuel
Coach of the Year
Drew Richards, UNC Pembroke
First Team
KJ Jones II, Emmanuel
Marcus Boykin, Barton
Michael Brown, Mount Olive
Bradlee Haskell, UNC Pembroke
Bryce Beamer, Francis Marion
Second Team
Bosko Bojovic, Converse
Michael Mays, King
Mario Lacy, Jr., Belmont Abbey
Donaven Hairston, Barton
Tavarus Webb, Emmanuel
Third Team
Mason Taylor, Belmont Abbey
JaJuan Carr, UNC Pembroke
Cortez Marion-Holmes, UNC Pembroke
Jonah Pierce, Francis Marion
Uzziah Dawkins, Converse