Men's All-Conference Awards Announced
SWAC.org
March 13, 2009
The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced its 2008-09 Men’s Basketball All-Conference Honors with Alabama State’s Brandon Brooks voted as the Player of the Year, while his teammate Chief Kickingstallionsims was voted Defensive Player of the Year.
Brooks, a 6-2, 180-pound senior from Irving, TX, ranked sixth in the SWAC in scoring (14.2 ppg), third in field goal percentage (51.4), first in assists (6.8) and fourth in free throw percentage (77.6). He scored a SWAC season-high 33 points at Southern Feb. 21. Brooks posted four games with at least 10 assists, with a season-high 13 at Texas Southern Feb. 2. Brooks also had three games with a double-double in points and assists.
Prairie View A&M’s Darnell Hugee was named Newcomer of the Year, Rod Melvin of Jackson State was named Freshman of the Year, and Alabama State head coach Lewis Jackson was named Coach of the Year.
Honors were voted on by the league’s coaches and sports information departments.
Kickingstallionsims, a 7-1, 265-pound center from Boynton Beach, FL, averaged 9.1 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.8 blocks for the Hornets. He posted three games of at least five blocked shots, highlighted by a career-high 11 blocks vs. Univ. Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Feb. 7 in which he totaled 13 points. The Hornets led the league in scoring defense and field goal percentage defense.
Hugee, a 6-7, 205-pound junior from Brooklyn, NY, averaged 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds (third in SWAC) while also ranking third in blocks per game (1.2) and fifth in field goal percentage (48.0). Hugee posted nine double-doubles this season (second in the SWAC) and scored a season-high 25 points vs. Grambling State on Jan. 17. Hugee also had a pair of 16-rebound games this season (vs. Champions Baptist Nov. 17; vs. Schreiner Dec. 30).
Melvin, 6-1, 180-pound freshman from Brandon, MS, averaged 5.1 points and 2.7 rebounds for the Tigers. He posted a season-high 14 points vs. Texas A&M on Nov. 21.
Jackson earned Coach of the Year Honors for the second-straight year. The Hornets posted 16 conference wins as Alabama State won back-to-back titles for the first time since Alcorn State (1999, 2000).
2009 Men's All-SWAC Team