Horizon League Announces 2025-26 #HLMBB All-League Awards

March 02

Rachel White

INDIANAPOLIS (March 2, 2026) – The Horizon League unveiled our 2025-26 #HLMBB awards on Monday. All awards were voted on by the League’s head coaches.

RMU’s DeSean Goode was named Player of the Year. Wright State’s TJ Burch earned Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year honors while teammate Kellen Pickett collected Freshman of the Year recognition and Clint Sargent was voted Coach of the Year for the Raiders. Cleveland State’s Chevalier Emery is our Sixth Man of the Year. CSU’s Tre Beard and Milwaukee’s Aaron Franklin are our Sportsmanship Award recipients.

Dig Deeper:

Goode led the League with 8.4 rebounds per game and a field goal percentage of 66.1 in #HLMBB play, adding 16.8 points per game for the Colonials.
- Goode is the second consecutive RMU student-athlete to earn Player of the Year honors.
In his first season at Wright State, Burch scored 14.3 points per game in League play with a League-high 2.5 steals per #HLMBB game.
Sargent picked up Coach of the Year recognition after leading the Raiders to the regular season crown with a 15-5 League record.
Pickett recorded 9.6 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per #HLMBB game in his rookie season for WSU.
Emery totaled 13.1 points per game for the Vikings, starting just one League contest and shooting 34.9 percent from three-point range in #HLMBB action.
The Sportsmanship Award recognizes student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior. Sportsmanship is defined as behavior exhibited during competition by student-athletes based on values, respect and integrity.
- Beard is a leader on a CSU team that returned no players from 2024-25 and “exemplifies sportsmanship on a daily basis,” according to head coach Rob Summers.
- MKE head coach Bart Lundy noted that Franklin “consistently sets the tone with his work ethic, preparation, and competitiveness” and has been a steady force for the Panthers this season.
The 2026 Barbasol #HLMBB Championship begins with our Play-In on Monday.
- Cleveland State hosts IU Indy at 7 p.m. ET
The First Round will follow with one contest on Tuesday, March 3 and four contests on Wednesday, March 4.
The 2026 Barbasol Horizon League Basketball Championships will culminate with second round, semifinal and championship games at the Corteva Coliseum in Indy on March 8-10.
Every game of the championship will be carried on ESPN networks with the play-in, first round and second round games streamed on ESPN+.
- The first semifinal game will be on ESPNU starting at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, March 9 followed by semifinal No. 2 on ESPN2 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
- The championship game will air on ESPN at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 10.
For complete championship information, visit Barbasol #HLMBB Championship Central.

2025-26 Horizon League Men’s Basketball All-League Awards

Player of the Year: DeSean Goode, RMU

Coach of the Year: Clint Sargent, Wright State

Newcomer of the Year: TJ Burch, Wright State

Freshman of the Year: Kellen Pickett, Wright State

Defensive Player of the Year: TJ Burch, Wright State

Sixth Man of the Year: Chevalier Emery, Cleveland State

Sportsmanship Awards: Tre Beard, Cleveland State & Aaron Franklin, Milwaukee

All-League First Team
Orlando Lovejoy, Detroit Mercy
Brody Robinson, Oakland
Corey Hadnot II, Purdue Fort Wayne
DeSean Goode, RMU
TJ Burch, Wright State

All-League Second Team
Preston Ruedinger, Green Bay
Donovan Oday, Northern Kentucky
Ryan Prather Jr., RMU
Michael Imariagbe, Wright State
Cris Carroll, Youngstown State

All-League Third Team
Dayan Nessah, Cleveland State
TJ Nadeau, Detroit Mercy
C.J. O'Hara, Green Bay
Kyler D'Augustino, IU Indianapolis
Tuburu Naivalurua, Oakland

All-Freshman Team
Tyler Spratt, Detroit Mercy
Stevie Elam, Milwaukee
Darius Livingston, RMU
Michael Cooper, Wright State
Kellen Pickett, Wright State

All-Defensive Team
Orlando Lovejoy, Detroit Mercy
Tae Dozier, Northern Kentucky
Nikolaos Chitikoudis, RMU
TJ Burch, Wright State
Imanuel Zorgvol, Youngstown State

Sportsmanship Award Finalists
Tre Beard, Cleveland State*
Legend Geeter, Detroit Mercy
Finley Woodward, IU Indianapolis
Aaron Franklin, Milwaukee*
LJ Wells, Northern Kentucky
Tuburu Naivalurua, Oakland
Deangelo Elisee, Purdue Fort Wayne
Ryan Prather Jr., RMU
Solomon Callaghan, Wright State