Conference Carolinas Unveils 2023-24 Men's Basketball All-Conference Honors
GREENVILLE, S.C. - Conference Carolinas unveiled its men's basketball awards on Thursday, March 7, ahead of the start of the 2024 Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Championship on Friday, March 8 at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
The 2023-24 all-conference awards were chosen by the league's head coaches.
A 6-foot-6 senior guard from Atlanta, Georgia, KJ Jones II of Emmanuel was selected as the Player of the Year in Conference Carolinas for the third time (2020-21, 2022-23 and 2023-24). According to Conference Carolinas records, Jones is the first in the NCAA era of the conference to claim the prestigious honor three times in men's basketball. Jones finished the regular season leading all of NCAA Division II at 26.0 points per game. Jones is also second in Conference Carolinas in assists (124) and he is in the top-10 in the league in steals at 1.6 per game. Jones became just the 13th in NCAA Division II men's basketball history to score 3,000 or more points near the end of the 2023-24 regular season.
A 6-foot-8 redshirt junior forward from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Elijah Cobb of UNC Pembroke was chosen as the Defensive Player of the Year. Cobb's honor marks the second time in the last three seasons that a UNC Pembroke student-athlete has picked up the honor. Former UNC Pembroke standout Spencer Levi was named the Player and Defensive Player of the Year during the 2021-22 season. Cobb did a little bit of everything for UNC Pembroke during the 2023-24 regular season. Cobb was in the top-five in Conference Carolinas in blocks (1.3 per game) and rebounding (7.7 per game). He was also among the top 30 in Conference Carolinas in steals with 25. Cobb had a total of 35 blocks during the regular season.
Chowan's Rob Burke was named the Coach of the Year by his peers after overseeing a regular season that saw the Hawks improve their win total in 2022-23 of 14 by five games to 19 after the conclusion of the 2023-24 regular season. Chowan had 12 league wins last season and the Hawks improved that number to 13 in the 2023-24 regular season. Chowan advanced their seeding in the Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Championship from the fifth seed in the 2022-23 season to a double bye and the third seed in the upcoming tournament.
The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals of the Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Men’s Basketball Championship will be held at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The men’s final will feature a 1 p.m. tipoff on March 10, while the women’s final is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tipoff.
The Atlantic Casualty Conference Carolinas Basketball Championships will also feature the Spirit Championships for the third consecutive year, which includes being held in the main arena of Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium for the second straight year. The Spirit Championships are scheduled for the morning of Saturday, March 9.
Fans can watch every game of the tournament live via the Conference Carolinas Digital Network and Hudl TV at
ConferencecarolinasDN.com. Information regarding the championship schedule, bracket and Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium are available
here.
Tickets are available at
ConferenceCarolinas.com/Tickets.
2023-24 Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball
All-Conference
Player of the Year
KJ Jones II, Emmanuel
Defensive Player of the Year
Elijah Cobb, UNC Pembroke
Freshman of the Year
Mikhail Pocknett, King
Coach of the Year
Rob Burke, Chowan
First Team
KJ Jones II, Emmanuel
Daylan Askew, Chowan
Bryce Beamer, Francis Marion
Uzziah Dawkins, Converse
Carl Cleveland, Young Harris
Second Team
Reese McDonald, Barton
Elijah Cobb, UNC Pembroke
Bradlee Haskell, UNC Pembroke
RJ Wilson, Chowan
Mikhail Pocknett, King
Third Team
Mason Taylor, Belmont Abbey
Tionne Rollins, Francis Marion
Donaven Hairston, Barton
Nygell Verdier, UNC Pembroke
Trevon Spencer, Barton