Four Gents Named To 2022-23 All-SCAC Men's Basketball Team
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Four Gents have been named to the 2022-23 All-SCAC Men's Basketball Team, the league office announced on Saturday.
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- In exclusive voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), sophomore guard Calvin Williams IV of University of St. Thomas was selected as SCAC Men's Basketball Player-of-the-Year while Celts' head coach Anthony Medina earned SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honors. Complete Release
In that same balloting, Colorado College first year guard Dinari Boykin was voted the league's First-Year Player-of-the-Year award while senior guard A.J. Clark of Trinity University was named SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year.
Williams IV, a native of Spring, Texas, played and started in all 25 regular season games for the Celts, averaging 15.0 points per game (fourth in the SCAC) which included a conference-best 17.3 points per game in league play. He is also among the conference leaders in steals (50 – second), points (374 – third) and assists (61 – seventh). Williams scored in double figures in 14 games during the regular season, and he had eight games where he topped 20 points, including the Feb. 4 game against Dallas where he had a season-high 27 points to lead St. Thomas to a 65-62 come-from-behind victory – a victory that clinched the regular season conference title for the Celts. That performance in Week 14 helped the sophomore secure his fourth SCAC Player-of-the-Week honor (the most in the conference this season) after having won the honor following Weeks 4, 6 and 10. Williams is the second consecutive men's player from St. Thomas to earn SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors, following Christian Alaekwe from a season ago.
Williams IV received seven votes in the Player-of-the-Year balloting followed by senior guard A.J. Clark of Trinity and senior forward Seth Thomas of Centenary College split the remaining two first-place votes.
Colorado College's Boykin, heading into this weekend's conference tournament, leads all first-year players and is second overall with 16.0 points per game. He is also tops among first-years in total points (353 – fourth in the SCAC), rebounds (144 – sixth in the SCAC) and rebounds per game (6.5 – sixth in the SCAC) and leads the entire conference in both steals (56) and steals per game (2.5). A first-year guard from Baltimore, Md., Boykin posted double digit scoring performances in 20 of the 22 games he played, including a season-high 30 in the Tigers' 82-69 victory against UC-Santa Cruz on Jan. 21. His current scoring average of 16.0 points per game would be the highest by a first-year player in the conference since Dallas' Spencer Levi averaged 19.0 per game en route to being named the D3hoops.com National Rookie of the Year in 2017-18. Boykin is the first Colorado College men's basketball player to earn First-Year POTY recognition since CC players won the award in back-to-back seasons in 2010-11 (Ryan Milne) and 2011-12 (Chris Lesnansky).
Also a First Team all-SCAC selection, becoming just the fourth freshman to achieve that status, Boykin was the coaches' clear choice for First-Year Player-of-the-Year, earning eight votes in the balloting. Austin College first-year forward Jordan Hudgins received the remaining first place vote.
Trinity's Clark, a senior guard from San Antonio, Texas, ranks in the Top 20 in all SCAC defensive categories heading into this weekend's conference tournament as he is fifth in defensive rebounds (116), sixth in defensive rebounds per game (4.8), eighth in steals (39), ninth in steals per game (1.6) and 20th in both blocks (11) and blocks per game (0.5). Clark will end his career as one of the league's all-time steals leaders, having become one of just 11 players in conference history to reach 170+ career steals in Saturday's regular season finale against Southwestern. The versatile senior is also one of the league's leading scorers, averaging 13.7 points per game (fifth in the SCAC), including notching his 1,000th career point on Saturday. Clark's selection marks the seventh time a Trinity player has earned Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors and the first since Danny Rivara shared the honor with Dallas' Spencer Levi following the 2017-18 season.
Clark received three votes in the tightly contested Defensive Player-of-the-Year balloting, followed by sophomore center Kamden Ross and senior forward Seth Thomas of Centenary with two votes each. Junior forward Jack Boyle of University of Dallas and sophomore forward Devin Philio of Colorado College split the remaining two first-place votes.
In his eighth season at St. Thomas, head coach Anthony Medina has compiled a 142-72 record (.664), which includes this year's squad that went a perfect 16-0 in league play, is currently 23-2 overall and ranked 12th in the nation by D3hoops.com and has earned the top seed for the SCAC Basketball Tournament. The Celts are the first men's team to post an undefeated conference mark (and just the second all-time) since the Centre College men went 14-0 in 2007-08. A UST grad and just the second head coach in program history, Medina has quickly established his program as a conference force as St. Thomas has won the regular season title three of the last four years and is seeking its third consecutive tournament title this weekend. The Celts are also the top ranked team in the most recent NCAA Division III Region X rankings.
Medina's selection as Coach-of-the-Year is his second, having shared COTY honors with Jimmy Smith of Trinity back in 2020-21.
2022-23 SCAC PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Calvin Williams IV, St. Thomas, 6-0, So., Guard, Spring, Texas
2022-23 SCAC FIRST-YEAR PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
Dinari Boykin, Colorado College, 6-3, Fy., Guard, Baltimore, Md.
2022-23 SCAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR
A.J. Clark, Trinity, 6-3, Sr., Guard, San Antonio, Texas
2022-23 SCAC COACH-OF-THE-YEAR
Anthony Medina, St. Thomas, 23-2 Overall / 16-0 SCAC / No. 1 seed in SCAC Tourney
2022-23 ALL-SCAC FIRST TEAM
Calvin Williams IV, St. Thomas, 6-0, So., Guard, Spring, Texas
Seth Thomas, Centenary, 6-5, Sr., Forward, Kilgore, Texas
AJ Clark, Trinity, 6-3, Sr., Guard, San Antonio, Texas
Dinari Boykin, Colorado College, 6-3, Fy., Guard, Baltimore, Md.
Jack Boyle, Dallas, 6-5, Jr., Forward, Silver Spring, Md.
2022-23 ALL-SCAC SECOND TEAM
Kamden Ross, Schreiner, 6-7, So., Center, Cibolo, Texas
Jacob Harvey, Trinity, 5-11, So., Guard, Huffman, Texas
Nick Anderson, St. Thomas, 6-4, Fy., Guard, Clear Springs, Texas
Tanner Brown, Trinity. 6-3, Jr., Guard, San Antonio, Texas
Xavier Phillips, Texas Lutheran. 6-3, Jr., Guard, Austin, Texas
2022-23 ALL-SCAC THIRD TEAM
Brock Luechtefeld, Southwestern, 6-7, So., Forward, The Woodlands, Texas
Zack Golaszewski, St. Thomas, 6-0, Sr., Guard, The Woodlands, Texas
Scott Ruegg, Colorado College, 6-1, So., Guard, Lafayette, Calif.
Joshua Sanchez, St. Thomas, 6-5, Sr., Forward, McAllen, Texas
Letrell Toussaint, Dallas, 6-7, Gr., Forward, Waco, Texas
HONORABLE MENTION (players receiving votes)
Austin College – Tristan Dick (Sr., G), Jordan Hudgins (Fy., F), Joshua Joe (Jr., G); Centenary – Quentin Beverly (Fy., G), Braeden Board (Jr., G), Tykeem Singleton (Sr., G); Colorado College – Trey Crawford (Jr., F), Adrian Price (So., C); Dallas – Marcus Juarez (Jr., F); Schreiner – Beau Cervantes (So., G), Darian Gibson (Sr., G/F), Dylan Mackey (So., G); Southwestern – Preston Hannah (Sr., G); St. Thomas – Freddie Ricks III (Sr., G); Texas Lutheran – Mason Green (Sr., F), Isaac Orozco (So., G); Trinity – Ben Hanley (Sr., G)
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.
2022-23 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Dinari Boykin, Colorado College, 6-3, Fy., Guard, Baltimore, Md.
Nick Anderson, St. Thomas, 6-4, Fy., Guard, Clear Springs, Texas
Mason Wallace, Texas Lutheran, 6-3, Fy., Guard, San Antonio, Texas
Quentin Beverly, Centenary, 6-0, Fy., Guard, Katy, Texas
Luke Hatcher, Southwestern, 6-5, Fy., Forward, Houston, 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.
For the complete release, click here.
