 | |
| Awarded for | the most outstanding basketball player in theSouthern Conference |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| History | |
| First award | 1952 |
| Most recent | Quimari Peterson, East Tennessee State |
TheSouthern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to theSouthern Conference's (SoCon) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1951–52 season.Fred Hetzel ofDavidson is the only player to have won the award three times (1963–1965). Sixteen other players have won the award twice, most recently done byIsaiah Miller ofUNC Greensboro (2020, 2021).
Davidson andFurman have the most all-time winners with 13, but Davidson left the SoCon after the 2013–14 season to join theAtlantic 10 Conference. There have also been nine ties in the award's history, but only one (1970–71 season) which occurred prior to the 1989–90 season. That season was the first for two separate player of the year awards—one by the Southern Conference men's basketball coaches, and the other by conference media members. When both the coaches and media select the same player, he is the consensus conference player of the year.
The only current members that have never had a winner areSamford andMercer. Both are among the SoCon's newer members, having respectively joined in 2008 and 2014.
| † | 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) |
| C | SoCon coaches' selection (1990–present) |
| M | SoCon media's selection (1990–present) |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the SoCon Player of the Year award at that point |
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| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Davidson (1936)[a 1] | 13 | 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012 (×2)†, 2013, 2014 |
| Furman (1936) | 13 | 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1998†, 2016, 2017, 2023 |
| East Tennessee State (1978, 2014)[a 2] | 7 | 1983, 1990†, 1991, 2002†, 2004, 2018†, 2025 |
| Chattanooga (1976) | 6 | 1982, 1992†, 1993, 1994†, 1997, 2022 |
| Western Carolina (1976) | 6 | 1992†, 1994†, 1995, 1996, 1998†, 2024 |
| VMI (1924, 2014)[a 3] | 5 | 1977, 1978, 1986, 1987, 2002† |
| West Virginia (1950)[a 4] | 5 | 1957, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1968 |
| Charleston (1998)[a 5] | 4 | 1999, 2001, 2003, 2011 |
| Wofford (1997) | 4 | 2010, 2015, 2018, 2019 |
| Appalachian State (1971)[a 6] | 3 | 1981, 2000, 2010† |
| The Citadel (1936) | 3 | 1976, 1984, 1985 |
| Marshall (1976)[a 7] | 3 | 1988, 1989, 1990† |
| UNC Greensboro (1997) | 3 | 2007, 2020, 2021 |
| Richmond (1936)[a 8] | 2 | 1967, 1973 |
| William & Mary (1936)[a 9] | 2 | 1961, 1971† |
| Duke (1928)[a 10] | 1 | 1952 |
| East Carolina (1964)[a 11] | 1 | 1971† |
| Georgia Southern (1991)[a 6] | 1 | 2006 |
| Washington and Lee (1921)[a 12] | 1 | 1958 |
| Elon (2003)[a 13] | 0 | — |
| Mercer (2014) | 0 | — |
| Samford (2008) | 0 | — |
Malachi Smith is Chattanooga's first player of the year since Johnny Taylor was honored by both the coaches and media in 1996–97.
College of Charleston's Sedric Webber and John Kresse were named Southern Conference player and coach of the year by the league's media association.
Conley last year became the first freshman in league history to be named SoCon Media Association Player of the Year, and was also named the league's preseason Player of the Year in October.
Honored as Southern Conference Player of the Year by both the coaches and media in 2011.