SHREVEPORT, La. -- In exclusive voting by the head coaches and sports information directors of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), junior center Kamden Ross of Schreiner University was selected as SCAC Men's Basketball Player-of-the-Year while the Trinity University staff, led by head coach Jimmy Smith, earned SCAC Coaching Staff-of-the-Year honors. Complete Release
Ross was also awarded the league's Defensive Player-of-the-Year award, and first year guard/forward Christian Green of Trinity was tabbed the league's First-Year Player-of-the-Year.
Ross, a native of Cibolo, Texas, currently leads the league in both scoring (18.8 points per game) and rebounding (13.5 rebounds per game) heading into this weekend's conference tournament. The reigning SCAC Tournament MVP was even more dominant in conference games this season, averaging 20.1 points and 14.2 rebounds per contest with both marks topping the league. His 886 career rebounds are already the second-most in league history and his career rebounding average of 11.1 sits atop the conference's all-time career rankings. Ross also leads the conference in field goal percentage this season (among players with four or more made FGs per game), shooting at a 63.5 percent clip. If he were to finish atop the SCAC in all three categories, he would become just the second player in league history to do so, joining James Sapp of Centenary College who pulled off the triple sweep in 2016-17. Ross is also currently second in the conference in both blocks (36) and blocks per game (1.5). The junior was a two-time SCAC Player-of-the-Week during the season, including in Week 11 when he posted the first 20/20 performance in a league game since 2008 when he finished with 24 points and 21 rebounds in a 90-76 win against Texas Lutheran. He replicated that feat a week later with 36 points and 20 rebounds against Dallas. His 17 double/doubles this season are tied for the sixth most in all of NCAA Division III.
Ross is the third different men's player from Schreiner to earn SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors, following AJ Myres in 2013-14 and Keenan Gumbs in 2017-18. He is just the second player in league history to be named Player-of-the-Year and Defensive Player-of-the-Year in the same season, joining Myres who earned both honors in 2013-14.
Ross received nine votes in the Player-of-the-Year balloting followed by last year's winner, junior guard Calvin Williams IV of University of St. Thomas, who had three votes. Senior forward Jack Boyle of University of Dallas, first-year guard/forward Christian Green of Trinity and senior forward Seth Thomas of Centenary College each received one first-place vote.
In the Defensive POTY vote, Ross received seven first-place nods, followed by Green of Trinity with three votes. Thomas of Centenary and senior guard Tristan Dick of Austin College followed with two votes each while senior forward Trey Crawford of Colorado College was listed on one ballot.
Trinity's Green, heading into this weekend's conference tournament, leads all first-year players and is fourth overall in the SCAC with 16.4 points per game. He is also tops among first-years in total points (409 – fourth in the SCAC), rebounds (185 – fourth in the SCAC) and rebounds per game (7.4 – fifth in the SCAC), steals (38 – ninth in the SCAC), steals per game (1.52 – ninth in the SCAC), blocks (33 – third in the SCAC) and blocks per game (1.32 – third in the SCAC). A first-year guard/forward from San Antonio, Texas, Green put the league on notice the opening weekend of conference play, earning Co-Player of the Week in Week Four when he posted three consecutive games of 20+ points and a pair of double-doubles in road victories at Southwestern and at Texas Lutheran. He scored in double figures in 21 of 25 regular season games and is shooting 51.5 percent of the field heading into this weekend's conference tournament. Green is just the second Trinity men's basketball player to earn First-Year POTY recognition, joining Danny Rivara who won the award following the 2016-17 season.
Also a First Team all-SCAC selection, becoming just the fifth freshman to achieve that status, Green was the coaches' and SIDs' clear choice for First-Year Player-of-the-Year, earning 14 votes in the balloting. Dallas first-year guard Kelton Coleman received the remaining four first-place votes.
After leading the Tigers to a league-best 14-2 conference mark (23-2 overall), a regular season crown and the top seed in this weekend's postseason tournament, the Trinity University staff, led by head coach Jimmy Smith, were selected as SCAC Coaching Staff-of-the-Year. Currently ranked 10th in the nation by D3hoops.com and second in the most recent NCAA Division III Region X rankings, Trinity opened the season with 15 consecutive wins and were ranked sixth in the nation at the time. Smith, no stranger to the SCAC having led both Schreiner and Texas Lutheran during successful stints at both institutions, is in his fourth year at Trinity where he has compiled a 75-16 overall mark (.824) and was the league's Co-Coach-of-the-Year in 2020-21. Of those with five plus years of coaching experience in the conference, Smith has the highest SCAC winning percentage (.798) of any men's coach in the history of the league. He remains the only coach in SCAC basketball history to earn conference COTY honors at two different institutions as he previously earned the honor in back-to-back seasons when he led Texas Lutheran to SCAC regular season and tournament titles in 2014-15 and 2015-16.
Smith's four total SCAC COTY honors are second all-time on the men's side, trailing only the six won by former Trinity head coach Pat Cunningham.
2023-24 SCAC PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Kamden Ross, Schreiner University, 6-7, Jr., Center, Cibolo, Texas
2023-24 SCAC FIRST-YEAR PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Christian Green, Trinity University, 6-6, Fy., Guard/Forward San Antonio, Texas
2023-24 SCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Kamden Ross, Schreiner University, 6-7, Jr., Center, Cibolo, Texas
2023-24 SCAC COACHING STAFF-OF-THE-YEAR
Trinity University, Jimmy Smith (Head Coach) / 23-2 Overall / 14-2 SCAC / No. 1 seed in SCAC Tourney
2023-24 ALL-SCAC FIRST TEAM
Kamden Ross, Schreiner, 6-7, Jr., Center, Cibolo, Texas
Christian Green, Trinity, 6-6, Fy., Guard/Forward, San Antonio, Texas
Calvin Williams IV, St. Thomas, 6-0, Jr., Guard, Houston, Texas
Jack Boyle, Dallas, 6-5, Sr., Forward, Silver Spring, Md.
Seth Thomas, Centenary, 6-5, Sr., Forward, Kilgore, Texas
2023-24 ALL-SCAC SECOND TEAM
Tanner Brown, Trinity, 6-3, Sr., Guard, San Antonio, Texas
Jacob Harvey, Trinity, 5-11, Jr., Guard, Huffman, Texas
Nick Anderson, St. Thomas, 6-4, So., Guard, Clear Springs, Texas
Dinari Boykin, Colorado College, 6-3, So., Guard, Baltimore, Md.
Tristan Dick, Austin College, 6-3, Sr., Guard, Houston, Texas
2023-24 ALL-SCAC THIRD TEAM
Luke Hatcher, Southwestern, 6-5, So., Forward, Houston, Texas
Dylan Mackey, Schreiner, 6-0, Jr., Guard, Houston, Texas
Xavier Phillips, Texas Lutheran, 6-3, Sr., Guard, Austin, Texas
Christian Rodriguez, Schreiner, 6-6, So., Center, Somerset, Texas
Brock Luechtefeld, Southwestern, 6-7, Jr., Forward, Houston, Texas
HONORABLE MENTION (players receiving votes)
Austin College – Kidus Getenet (So., G), Joshua Joe (Sr., G), Ethan Pearce (So., F); Centenary – Quentin Beverly (So., G), Craig Collier (Jr., G), Jakobi Greenleaf (Jr., F), AJ Hall (Sr., G); Colorado College – Asher Nofziger (So., F), Edgar Romero (Jr., G), Scott Ruegg (Jr., G); Dallas – Kelton Coleman (Fy., G), Johny Olmsted (So., G); Schreiner – Beau Cervantes (Jr., G), Jalen Ned (Jr., G); St. Thomas – Angel Johnson (So., G), Marlon Williams (Jr., G); Texas Lutheran – Easton Allen (Jr., F)
Coaches voted for 15 places for All-SCAC with 15 points awarded for first-place votes, 14 points for second-place votes, 13 points for third-place votes, etc., down to one point for a 15th-place vote. All players not elected to the First, Second or Third Team, but who received at least one vote, were named Honorable Mention. Coaches could not vote for their own players.
2023-24 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Christian Green, Trinity, 6-6, Fy., Guard/Forward San Antonio, Texas
Kelton Coleman, Dallas, 6-2, Fy., Guard, Fort Worth, Texas
Teddy Tapken, Texas Lutheran, 6-6, Fy., Forward, Austin, Texas
Dean Balo, Trinity, 6-3, Fy., Guard, Dallas, Texas
Gio Gutierrez, Southwestern, 6-3, Fy., Guard, El Paso, Texas
Coaches voted for five places for All-Freshman with five points awarded for first-place votes, four points for second-place votes, three points for third-place votes, etc., down to one point for a fifth-place vote. There was no Honorable Mention, and coaches could not vote for their own players.
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