Conference USA Men's Basketball Player of the Year
 | |
| Awarded for | the most outstanding basketball player in Conference USA |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| History | |
| First award | 1996 |
| Most recent | Isaiah Crawford, Louisiana Tech |
The Conference USA Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to Conference USA's (CUSA) most outstanding player. The award was first given following CUSA's inaugural 1995–96 season. Two players have received the award multiple times: Danny Fortson (1996, 1997) and Steve Logan (2001, 2002). Coincidentally, both players attended the University of Cincinnati. Another Bearcat, Kenyon Martin, won the CUSA Player of the Year award the same season he was selected as the consensus national player of the year (2000).
Cincinnati and Memphis have the most awards, with five each; Memphis has the most individual winners, with all of its awards having been won by different players. However, neither school is currently a member of the conference. Due to CUSA having lost many members in all three of the major conference realignment cycles of the 21st century (2005, early 2010s, and 2020s), only four of the 10 current member schools have had a winner, with only Louisiana Tech and Middle Tennessee having had more than one. Kennesaw State is playing its first CUSA season in 2024–25.
Key
[edit]| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| * | Awarded a national player of the year award: UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Conference USA Player of the Year award at that point |
Winners
[edit]
Quentin Richardson, DePaul, 1999
Kenyon Martin, Cincinnati, 2000
Dwyane Wade, Marquette, 2003
Morris Almond, Rice, 2007
Randy Culpepper, UTEP, 2010
Will Barton, Memphis, 2012
Joe Jackson, Memphis, 2013
Shawn Jones, Middle Tennessee, 2014
Speedy Smith, Louisiana Tech, 2015
Alex Hamilton, Louisiana Tech, 2016
JaCorey Williams, Middle Tennessee, 2017
B. J. Stith, Old Dominion, 2019
Javion Hamlet, North Texas, 2020
Jordan Walker, UAB, 2022
Winners by school
[edit]| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati (1995)[a] | 5 | 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 |
| Memphis (1995)[b] | 5 | 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2013 |
| Louisiana Tech (2013) | 3 | 2015, 2016, 2024 |
| Middle Tennessee (2013) | 3 | 2014, 2017, 2018 |
| Charlotte (1995/2013)[a][c] | 2 | 1998, 2005 |
| North Texas (2013)[d] | 2 | 2020, 2023 |
| UAB (1995)[d] | 2 | 2011, 2022 |
| DePaul (1995)[a] | 1 | 1999 |
| Marquette (1995)[a] | 1 | 2003 |
| Old Dominion (2013)[e] | 1 | 2019 |
| Rice (2005)[d] | 1 | 2007 |
| UCF (2005)[b] | 1 | 2009 |
| UTEP (2005)[f] | 1 | 2010 |
| Western Kentucky (2014) | 1 | 2021 |
| East Carolina (2001)[g] | 0 | — |
| FIU (2013) | 0 | — |
| Florida Atlantic (2013)[d] | 0 | — |
| Houston (1996)[b][h] | 0 | — |
| Jacksonville State (2023) | 0 | — |
| Kennesaw State (2024) | 0 | — |
| Liberty (2023) | 0 | — |
| Marshall (2005)[e] | 0 | — |
| New Mexico State (2023) | 0 | — |
| Sam Houston (2023) | 0 | — |
| SMU (2005)[b] | 0 | — |
| Southern Miss (1995)[e] | 0 | — |
| Tulane (1995)[g] | 0 | — |
| Tulsa (2005)[g] | 0 | — |
| UTSA (2013)[d] | 0 | — |
- ^ a b c d Charlotte, Cincinnati, DePaul and Marquette were founding members of CUSA in 1995, but all joined other conferences in 2005. Charlotte left for the Atlantic 10 Conference while the other three left for the Big East Conference. Following the 2013 split of the Big East into a non-football Big East and the football-sponsoring American Athletic Conference (The American), Cincinnati joined The American, while DePaul and Marquette remained in the current Big East. Cincinnati would move to the Big 12 Conference in 2023.
- ^ a b c d Houston, Memphis, SMU, and UCF left for The American in 2013. Houston and UCF moved to the Big 12 in 2023, and SMU moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024.
- ^ Charlotte rejoined CUSA in 2013, but moved to The American in 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Rice, UAB, and UTSA joined The American alongside Charlotte in 2023.
- ^ a b c Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2022.
- ^ UTEP will leave CUSA for the Mountain West Conference after the 2025–26 season.
- ^ a b c East Carolina, Tulane, and Tulsa joined The American in 2014.
- ^ The University of Houston was a founding member in 1995, but did not begin competing until 1996 because of its commitments to the final year of competition of the Southwest Conference.
References
[edit]- ^ "Men's Conference USA Player of the Year Winners". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- ^ "Cincinnati 71, Saint Louis 43". The Jackson Sun. Jackson, Tennessee. March 7, 1997. p. 26. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Doyel, Gregg (March 14, 1998). "UNC on guard: Cota hit with stomach virus". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. p. 12. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Olson, Stan (March 5, 1999). "Richardson a prospect for NBA?". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. p. 32. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McKissic, Rodney (March 10, 2000). "Martin 'not really disappointed'". The Cincinnati Post. Cincinnati, Ohio. p. 24. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McKissic, Rodney (March 9, 2001). "Satterfield powers 'Cats". The Cincinnati Post. Cincinnati, Ohio. p. 31. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Logan: UC star grew as a player and as a person". The Cincinnati Post. Cincinnati, Ohio. March 12, 2002. p. 3. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "2003 Wisconsin All-Star Basketball Team – Individual Awards". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Green Bay, Wisconsin. March 30, 2003. p. 37. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Parrish, Gary (March 11, 2004). "Burks joins U of M pantheon". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 27. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Janovy, Jena (March 10, 2005). "49ers' Basden player of year". The Charlotte Observer. Charlotte, North Carolina. p. 32. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Masilak, Jim (March 9, 2006). "Conference USA honors pair of Tigers". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 2. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Rice's Almond named C-USA's player of the year". The Victoria Advocate. Victoria, Texas. March 8, 2007. p. 21. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Masilak, Jim (March 13, 2008). "Sweep for Tigers". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 5. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "UCF's Taylor named C-USA Player of Year". Florida Today. Brevard County, Florida. March 12, 2009. p. 19. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Woods, David (March 15, 2010). "Better Bulldogs Returning West?". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. p. D10. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Knight, Bill (March 11, 2011). "No. 1 seed UAB goes down". El Paso Times. El Paso, Texas. p. 20. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Smith, Jason (March 9, 2012). "Picking up slack". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. p. 8. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "By the numbers". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. March 16, 2013. p. 14. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "MTSU's Jones C-USA Player of Year". The Murfreesboro Post. Murfreesboro, Tennessee. March 17, 2014. p. 19. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Isabella, Sean (March 12, 2015). "Tech's Smith, White earn C-USA honors". The News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. p. C5. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Isabella, Sean (March 10, 2016). "Tech, Hamilton have eyes set on C-USA title run". The News-Star. Monroe, Louisiana. p. C1. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Woods, David (March 18, 2017). "Butler vs. Middle Tennessee". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. p. B3. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Bacharach, Eric (March 13, 2018). "MTSU tries to make sense of NCAA snub". The Tennessean. Nashville, Tennessee. p. C5. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Megargee, Steve (March 20, 2019). "B.J. STITH (guard, Old Dominion)". Kennebec Journal. Augusta, Maine. p. C2. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "14. North Texas". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, Michigan. March 16, 2020. p. B4. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "WKU's Bassey named C-USA's best". Messenger-Inquirer. Owensboro, Kentucky. March 10, 2021. p. B3. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tennessee surges into top 10; Gonzaga still No. 1". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wisconsin. March 8, 2022. p. B4. Retrieved December 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Taylor, Kevin (March 12, 2023). "Ex-Spiro star Perry named C-USA Player of the Year for North Texas". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Little Rock, Arkansas. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
- ^ "Five Hilltoppers earn All-CUSA honors". The Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky. March 12, 2024. p. B3. Retrieved June 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.