Grayson led the Tigers, picked 12th in the preseason poll, to their first 20-win season since 2014-15. He averaged 22.4 points and 11.4 rebounds in the regular season. His rebounding average ranks seventh in Division II and his 17 double-doubles rank fourth. He places third in the conference in steals per game.
Hill became the first Reddie lauded with an individual award since Denzel Lyles captured GAC’s inaugural Newcomer of the Year award in 2011-12. Hill averaged 11.7 points per game and shot 37.9 percent from the 3-point arc. His 3.2 assists rank ninth in the GAC. In his second-season as the Crimson Storm head coach, Foster guided Southern Nazarene to the program’s fifth regular-season title.
Grayson and Southern Nazarene’s Stevie Strong earned spots on the All-GAC First Team by unanimous consent. Strong led the Crimson Storm in scoring at 18.1 points per game. His 5.1 assists per game ranked second in the conference and his 38.2 percent 3-point shooting ranked third.
Shaun Williams gave the Tigers two First-Team honorees. Guards Terry Coner Jr., from Oklahoma Baptist; Keyln McBride, from Harding, and Cam McDowell, from Northwestern Oklahoma State filled out the six-member first team. Williams averaged 18.7 points per game and he led the league in 3-point shooting as he connected on 44.2 percent of his tries. Coner Jr., the 2024 GAC Freshman of the Year, ranked inside the top 10 in points per game, assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio. In addition to leading his team in scoring, McBride’s 3.7-1 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks third in Division II. He finished the regular season with the seventh-best free-throw percentage in all of college basketball, 93.2 percent. In his second season with the Rangers, McDowell raised his scoring average by more than 11 points per game to 27.3, the second-best average DII. His scoring average stands to break the conference’s single-season mark of 25.3, set by Southern Nazarene All-American Jhonathan Dunn in 2019-20.
The All-GAC Second Team consisted of Northwestern Oklahoma State’s Max Alexander, Southern Nazarene’s Baron Bracey, Arkansas Tech’s Cassius Brooks, Henderson State’s Nehikhare Igiehon and Harding’s Sam Smith.
Hill headlined the Honorable Mention team. East Central and Southwestern Oklahoma State each placed two on the team as Bishop Jones and Nikk Williams represented the Tigers while Tobias Roland and MJ Warrior made it from SWOSU. Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Robert Briley, Oklahoma Baptist’s Ricky Brown, Southern Arkansas’ BJ Davis, Southern Nazarene’s Jeremy Golson and Harding’s Rylie Marshall rounded out the team.
The GAC Academic Honor Roll featured a total of 24 student-athletes to have achieved a cumulative grade-point average of 3.50, or higher, combined with at least one year of one-year of full-time college residency.
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