McDonald Named #HLMBB Player of the Year, Horizon League Announces All-League Teams
INDIANAPOLIS – After opening the season as the preseason Player of the Year and helping his team to a share of its second-straight regular season title, Northern Kentucky’s Drew McDonald has been named the Horizon League Player of the Year, as the HL announced its men’s basketball All-League honors on Tuesday. Antoine Davis of Detroit Mercy was selected Freshman of the Year, while Wright State’s Scott Nagy claimed his second consecutive Coach of the Year honor. IUPUI picked up a pair of specialty honors as Jaylen Minnett was selected Sixth Man of the Year and D.J. McCall was named Defensive Player of the Year.
League awards are voted on by head coaches, sports information directors and select media representative from each school. All-Defensive Team and Defensive Player of the Year honors are only voted on by head coaches.
McDonald finished Horizon League play ranking second in the HL in scoring at 20.1 points per game while also finishing tops in rebounds at 9.7 per game. Overall this season, he registered nine 20-point games with two 30-point performances, and also 13 double-digit rebound games, including a 20-rebound performance against UIC. McDonald was also very efficient from the floor during League play shooting 50.7 percent from the field, eighth-best in the HL, while hitting a League-best 45.2 percent of his shots from 3-point range. McDonald was a double-double machine this season finishing with a League-best 12 double-doubles, including the first triple-double by an NKU player since 2001. He will end his career as NKU’s all-time leading scorer and currently ranks 11th on the HL’s all-time scoring list with 2,011 points heading into postseason play. McDonald is also the first player since Alec Peters of Valparaiso (2015-17) to be earn three consecutive All-Horizon League first team selections.
Detroit Mercy’s Davis had one of the best seasons by a first-year player in League history and was awarded Freshman of the Year. He broke the Horizon League’s freshman scoring record earlier this season and is the first HL freshman to record over 700 points. Davis also broke Stephen Curry’s NCAA record for most 3-pointers in a season by a freshman and ranks second in the country with 128 triples. The nation’s third-leading scorer heading into postseason play, Davis is first during Horizon League play in points at 26.0 per game and is also first in 3-pointers per game at 4.0. He is also top-10 during HL play in assists per game at 3.5. Davis is also the first Horizon League freshman to earn a spot on the All-Horizon League first team since Gordon Heyward of Butler in 2008-09.
Minnett, who came off the bench in every game for IUPUI this season to earn Sixth Man of the Year, finished HL play averaging 12.3 points per game and finished top-10 in 3-pointers made per game at 2.4. He also proved to be one of the most consistent free-throw shooters during League play as he finished third at 86.4 percent. McCall was voted Defensive Player of the year after finishing top-10 during Horizon League play in steals and defensive rebounds and was the primary defender on a Jaguars team that finished top-three in scoring defense, steals and turnovers forced.
Nagy claims Coach of the Year for the second-straight season after leading Wright State to a share of the regular season crown and the No. 1 seed heading into Motor City Madness. It marks the first regular season title for the Raiders since the 2006-07 season. Nagy becomes the first coach since Bryce Drew of Valparaiso in 2015 and 2016 to win back-to-back Coach of the Year honors.
McDonald and Davis are joined on the All-League first team by Green Bay’s Sandy Cohen III, Xavier Hill-Mais of Oakland and Wright State’s Loudon Love. Cohen ended the season tied for fifth in scoring at 17.2 and fourth in assists at 4.6. He was the only player during HL play to finish top-10 in points (18.2), rebounds (6.7) and assists (4.3), while also leading the League with 1.9 steals per game. Hill-Mais finished fourth in the League in scoring at 18.6 points per game, fifth in field-goal percentage at 53.8 and fifth in rebounds at 6.8. He ends the regular season with seven 20-point performances, including four 30-point games. Love, last year’s Freshman of the Year and an All-League second team selection, moves up to first team in 2019 after scoring 16.6 points in HL play and finishing second in rebounds, grabbing 7.6 per game, including a League-best 3.6 offensive boards. Love finished second in the Horizon League with 11 double-doubles on the season.
The All-Horizon League second team is comprised of Cleveland State’s Tyree Appleby, IUPUI’s Camron Justice, Tarkus Ferguson of UIC, Bill Wampler of Wright State and Youngstown State’s Darius Quisenberry. Appley scored 17.2 points per game and led the Horizon League with 5.6 assists, while Justice was third in the HL in scoring at 18.9 points. Ferguson finished the regular season leading the Flames in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and minutes, and Wampler finished top-15 in the HL in points and 3-point field goals made. Quisenberry earned three #HLMBB Freshman of the Week awards and finished HL play averaging 16.points and 4.4 assists.
Davis and Quisenberry were joined on the All-Freshman Team by Cleveland State’s Rashad Williams (12.2 ppg, 2.9 3PTM), Braden Norris of Oakland (5.0 apg, 48.5 3PT%) and Wright State’s Malachi Smith (44.8 FG%).
Joining McCall on the All-Defensive Team were Parker Ernsthausen and Mark Hughes of Wright State, Jalen Tate of Northern Kentucky and Youngstown State’s Garrett Covington.
The 2019 Little Caesars Horizon League Basketball Championships will begin March 5-6 at the top four seeds and will culminate with the semifinal and championship games on March 11-12 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. Tickets for the semifinals and championship are on-sale now.
For complete information on the 2019 Little Caesars Horizon League Basketball Championships, please go to HorizonLeague.com/MotorCityMadness.
2019 Horizon League Men’s Basketball Award Winners
Player of the Year: Drew McDonald, Northern Kentucky
Defensive Player of the Year: D.J. McCall, IUPUI
Freshman of the Year: Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Sixth Man of the Year: Jaylen Minnett, IUPUI
Coach of the Year: Scott Nagy, Wright State
All-Horizon League First Team (alphabetical by school)
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Sandy Cohen III, Green Bay
Drew McDonald, Northern Kentucky
Xavier Hill-Mais, Oakland
Loudon Love, Wright State
All-Horizon League Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Tyree Appleby, Cleveland State
Camron Justice, IUPUI
Tarkus Ferguson, UIC
Bill Wampler, Wright State
Darius Quisenberry, Youngstown State
Horizon League All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school)
Rashad Williams, Cleveland State
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Braden Norris, Oakland
Malachi Smith, Wright State
Darius Quisenberry, Youngstown State
Horizon League All-Defensive Team (alphabetical by school)
D.J. McCall, IUPUI
Jalen Tate, Northern Kentucky
Parker Ernsthausen, Wright State
Mark Hughes, Wright State
Garrett Covington, Youngstown State