Big South Season Awards Announced

The Big South named their season awards today for the 2012-13 season and, as expected, VMI's Stan Okoye was named conference player of the year. Okoye finished the year leading the conference in scoring with 21.4 points per game and rebounding with 9.2 rebounds per game.

High Point's John Brown was named Freshman of the Year by the conference. Brown beat out Longwood big man Michael Kessens for the award. Brown averaged 16.4 points and 6.1 rebound per game for the Panthers this year, while Kessens averaged 13.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

Gardner-Webb's Chris Holtmann was named the Coach of the Year. Holtmann, in his third year at GWU, took the Bulldogs from 12-20 last year to 20-11 this year.

Here is the full list of awards from the Big South:

First-Team All-Conference
Stan Okoye, F, Sr., VMI
Saah Nimley, G, Soph., Charleston Southern
Anthony Raffa, G, R-Sr., Coastal Carolina
John Brown, F, R-Fr., High Point
Jeremy Atkinson, F., Sr., UNC Asheville

Second-Team All-Conference
Allan Chaney, F, Gr., High Point
Tashan Newsome, G, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
Trey Freeman, G, Soph., Campbell
Javonte Green, F., Soph., Radford
Arlon Harper, G, Soph., Charleston Southern

All-Freshman Team
John Brown, F, High Point
Michael Kessens, F, Longwood
Will Weeks, F, UNC Asheville
Adam Weary, G, High Point
Rashun Davis, G, Radford

All-Academic Team
Darren White, F, Sr., Campbell
Paul Gombwer, F, Soph., Charleston Southern
Tyler Strange, G, Soph., Gardner-Webb
John Caleb Sanders, G, Jr., Liberty
Stephen Shockley, G, Sr., Longwood
Kyle Noreen, F, Soph., Radford
Keith Hornsby, G, Soph., UNC Asheville
Stan Okoye, F, Sr., VMI
Derrick Henry, G, Soph., Winthrop

Player of the Year
Stan Okoye, F, Sr., VMI

Freshman of the Year
John Brown, F, High Point

Defensive Player of the Year
D.J. Covington, F, Jr., VMI

Coach of the Year
Chris Holtmann, Gardner-Webb

Scholar-Athlete of the Year
John Caleb Sanders, G, Jr., Liberty