Southwestern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The Southwestern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual award given to the Southwestern Athletic Conference's (SWAC) most outstanding player.

Historical records of this award have been spotty,^[a] and the following is a compiled list of the verified SWAC Players of the Year.

Southwestern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Awarded for	the most outstanding basketball player in the Southwestern Athletic Conference
Country	United States
History
Most recent	Ken Evans Jr., Jackson State

Key

†	Co-Players of the Year
*	Awarded a national player of the year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) 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 SWAC Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Nathaniel Archibald, Alcorn State, 1973

Larry Smith, Alcorn State, 1979 and 1980

Avery Johnson, Southern, 1987 and 1988

Lindsey Hunter, Jackson State, 1993

Brion Rush, Grambling State, 2006

Trey Johnson, Jackson State, 2007

Omar Strong, Texas Southern, 2013

Madarious Gibbs, Texas Southern, 2015

Martaveous McKnight, Arkansas–Pine Bluff, 2018

Devonte Patterson, Prairie View A&M, 2020

Season	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
1972–73	Nathaniel Archibald	Alcorn State	C	Junior	[1]
1973–74	Gene Short	Jackson State	SF	Junior	[2]
1974–75	Gene Short (2)	Jackson State	SF	Senior	[2]
1975–76	Larry Wright	Grambling State	PG	Junior	[3]
1976–77	Purvis Short	Jackson State	SF	Junior	[4]
1977–78	Purvis Short (2)	Jackson State	SF	Senior	[5]
1978–79	Larry Smith	Alcorn State	PF / C	Junior	[6]
1979–80	Larry Smith (2)	Alcorn State	PF / C	Senior	[6]
1980–81†	Harry Kelly	Texas Southern	SF	Sophomore	[7][8]
	Robert Williams	Grambling State	PF	Senior	[7][8]
1981–82	Harry Kelly (2)	Texas Southern	SF	Junior	[9]
1982–83	Harry Kelly (3)	Texas Southern	SF	Senior	[9]
1983–84	Lewis Jackson	Alabama State	SF	Senior	[10]
1984–85	Mike Phelps	Alcorn State	PG	Senior	[11]
1985–86	Frank Sillmon	Alabama State	SF	Sophomore	[12]
1986–87†	George Ivory	Mississippi Valley State	PG	Senior	[13]
	Avery Johnson	Southern	PG	Junior	[9]
1987–88	Avery Johnson (2)	Southern	PG	Senior	[9]
1988–89	Terry Brooks	Alabama State	G	Senior	[14]
1989–90	Joe Faulkner	Southern	PF	Senior	[15][16]
1990–91	Steve Rogers	Alabama State	SG	Junior	[17]
1991–92	Steve Rogers (2)	Alabama State	SG	Senior	[17]
1992–93	Lindsey Hunter	Jackson State	PG	Senior	[17]
1993–94	Jervaughn Scales	Southern	PF	Senior	[17]
1994–95	Kenny Sykes	Grambling State	SG	Senior	[17]
1995–96	Marcus Mann	Mississippi Valley State	PF	Senior	[17]
1996–97	Randy Bolden	Texas Southern	PG	Junior	[17]
1997–98	Randy Bolden (2)	Texas Southern	PG	Senior	[17]
1998–99	Adarrial Smylie	Southern	C	Junior	[17]
1999–00	Adarrial Smylie (2)	Southern	C	Senior	[17]
2000–01	Dewayne Jefferson	Mississippi Valley State	SG	Sophomore	[17]
2001–02	Paul Haynes	Grambling State	PF / C	Sophomore	[17]
2002–03	Gregory Burks	Prairie View A&M	PG	Senior	[17]
2003–04	Attarius Norwood	Mississippi Valley State	F	Senior	[17]
2004–05	Obie Trotter	Alabama A&M	PG / SG	Junior	[18]
2005–06	Brion Rush	Grambling State	PG	Senior	[17]
2006–07	Trey Johnson	Jackson State	SG	Senior	[17]
2007–08	Andrew Hayles	Alabama State	SG	Junior	[17]
2008–09	Brandon Brooks	Alabama State	PG	Senior	[17]
2009–10	Garrison Johnson	Jackson State	SG	Senior	[19]
2010–11	Travele Jones	Texas Southern	PF	Senior	[20]
2011–12	Paul Crosby	Mississippi Valley State	C	Senior	[21]
2012–13	Omar Strong	Texas Southern	PG	Senior	[22]
2013–14	Aaric Murray	Texas Southern	C	Senior	[23]
2014–15	Madarious Gibbs	Texas Southern	PG	Senior	[24]
2015–16	Derrick Griffin	Texas Southern	C	Freshman	[25]
2016–17	Zach Lofton	Texas Southern	SG	Junior	[26]
2017–18	Martaveous McKnight	Arkansas–Pine Bluff	PG	Junior	[27]
2018–19	Jeremy Combs	Texas Southern	PF	Senior	[28]
2019–20	Devonte Patterson	Prairie View A&M	PF	Senior	[29]
2020–21	Tristan Jarrett	Jackson State	SG	Senior	[30]
2021–22	M. J. Randolph	Florida A&M	PG	Senior	[31]
2022–23	Cameron Christon	Grambling State	SG	Graduate	[32]
2023–24	Ken Evans Jr.	Jackson State	SG / PG	Junior	[33]

Winners by school

School (year joined)	Winners	Years
Texas Southern (1954)	12	1981†, 1982, 1983, 1997, 1998, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
Jackson State (1958)	9	1974, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1993, 2007, 2010, 2021, 2024
Alabama State (1982)	7	1984, 1986, 1989, 1991, 1992, 2008, 2009
Grambling State (1958)	6	1976, 1981†, 1995, 2002, 2006, 2023
Southern (1934)	6	1987†, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1999, 2000
Mississippi Valley State (1968)	5	1987†, 1996, 2001, 2004, 2012
Alcorn State (1962)	4	1973, 1979, 1980, 1985
Prairie View A&M (1920)	2	2003, 2020
Alabama A&M (1999)	1	2005
Arkansas–Pine Bluff (1936)[b]	1	2018
Florida A&M (2021)	1	2022
Bethune–Cookman (2021)	0	—

Footnotes

• ^a Please see the talk page for an e-mail correspondence with Tom Galbraith, who at the time of the exchanges was the SWAC men's basketball contact.
• ^b The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was a conference member from 1936 to 1970, left, but then re-joined in 1998.

References

1. "Archibald: SWAC's MVP". Delta Democrat Times. March 2, 1973. p. 10. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Sports Shorts". The Times-News. Hendersonville, NC. March 1, 1975. p. 10. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
3. "2005 SWAC Hall of Fame Inductees". Southwestern Athletic Conference. December 7, 2005. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
4. 1977-78 Street and Smith's Official College, Pro and Prep Basketball Yearbook, page 128
5. "Senate Concurrent Resolution 585". State of Mississippi. 2000. Retrieved July 2, 2012.
6. Hurst, Jason (May 8, 2008). "Larry Smith Named New Alcorn State Men's Basketball Head Coach". wjtv.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
7. "GSU cagers land on all-SWAC team". The Shreveport Times. March 5, 1981. p. 31. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "GSU honors Williams, Jackson". The Shreveport Times. April 23, 1981. p. 33. Retrieved August 14, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "SWAC Announces 2006 Hall of Fame Inductees". Southwestern Athletic Conference. December 18, 2006. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
10. "2010 Men's Basketball Coaching Staff: Lewis Jackson, Head Coach". Alabama State University. 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
11. 1985–86 Sporting News Basketball Yearbook. Sporting News. 1989. p. 60.
12. "Sillmon is SWAC Player of the Year". The Tuscaloosa News. Jackson, MS. March 6, 1986. p. 18. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
13. Whelliston, Kyle (September 4, 2008). "SWAC ShootAround: New faces on SWAC sidelines". ESPN.com. ESPN. Archived from the original on September 11, 2008. Retrieved January 24, 2011.
14. 1989–90 Sporting News Basketball Yearbook. Sporting News. 1989. p. 121.
15. "SU's Jobe, Faulkner Voted SWAC Honors" (Cache). The Advocate. March 9, 1990. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
16. "1989–90 All-SWAC" (Cache). The Advocate. March 9, 1990. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
17. "1990–2008 Basketball Review" (PDF). SWAC Men's Basketball Media Guide. Southwestern Athletic Conference. 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
18. "Former Bulldog Obie Trotter Named SWAC Player of the Decade". aamusports.com. Alabama A&M University. April 30, 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
19. "Garrison Johnson named SWAC Player of the Year". jsutigers.cstv.com. Jackson State University. March 9, 2010. Retrieved January 9, 2011.
20. "SWAC Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams Named". swac.org. Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 7, 2011. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved March 8, 2011.
21. "MVSU Center Paul Crosby Headlines All-SWAC Team". swac.org. Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 6, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
22. "TSU Senior Omar Strong Headlines All-SWAC team". swac.org. Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 8, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
23. "TSU's Aaric Murray named SWAC Player of the Year". Chronicle News Services. March 10, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2014.
24. "TSU Senior Madarious Gibbs Headlines All SWAC Team". SWAC. March 9, 2015. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
25. "2016 All-SWAC Men's Basketball team announced". SWAC. March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
26. "2016-17 All-SWAC Men's Basketball Teams announced". SWAC. March 6, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
27. "All-SWAC Men's Basketball Teams revealed" (Press release). Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 5, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2018.
28. "#SWACMBB All-Conference Awards Announced". Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 12, 2019. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
29. "SWAC Announces 2019-20 Men's Basketball All-Conference Selections" (Press release). Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 12, 2020. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
30. "SWAC Announces Men's Basketball Postseason Honors" (Press release). Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2021.
31. "SWAC Announces Men's Basketball Postseason Honors" (Press release). Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 8, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
32. "SWAC Announces Men's Basketball Postseason Honors" (Press release). Southwestern Athletic Conference. March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
33. Keith, J.T. (March 14, 2024). "Jackson State dominates SWAC men's, women's awards". The Clarion-Ledger. Jackson, Mississippi. p. B2. Retrieved June 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.