Ahead of this week’s conference tournament in Pensacola, FL, the Sun Belt has released its all-conference honors list, as voted on by the league’s head coaches. And fresh off the heels of winning seven straight games and nine of their last ten to finish in 3rd place in the standings, Georgia State has had two of their senior guards named in the postseason honors, with Corey Allen and Kane Williams both landing on the Third Team.
Allen, a super-senior from Ypsilanti, MI, led the Panthers with 13.5 points per game and 53 made three-pointers. That scoring average was also good enough for 11th place on the conference leaderboard. However, Allen’s placement on the postseason honors list isn’t all to do with his offensive numbers, as he finished 5th in the conference in steals per game (1.7). This is his second straight appearance in the All-Sun Belt teams after being picked on the Second Team for the 2020/21 season.
Fellow super-senior Williams also earns his second placement in the Sun Belt postseason all-conference teams after landing on the Second Team for the 2019/20 season. Williams, a native of Douglasville, GA, was Georgia State’s second-leading scorer with 12.4 ppg and the team’s leader in assists (97) and steals (44). He also led the team in made free throws (120), attempted free throws (148) and free throw percentage (81.1%), adding to his career lead in attempts (515 and counting). Williams finished 3rd in the conference in steals per game, 5th in assists per game, 6th in free throw percentage and 16th in scoring average.
Arkansas State forward Norchad Omier was the standout individual performer in the conference, winning each of the top honors of Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. The freshman forward from Bluefields, Nicaragua was the conference’s third-leading scorer at 17.2 ppg and the only player in the Sun Belt to average a double-double with a conference-best 12.0 rebounds per game.
Texas State’s head coach Terrence Johnson earned the Coach of the Year award for the second time in as many seasons for his work leading the Bobcats to a 21-6 record and Sun Belt regular season title. Johnson has now won the award in each of his two seasons as the program’s head coach, having taken over as interim HC before the 2020/21 season.
The full list of honorees is as follows:
Player of the Year
Norchad Omier, Arkansas State
Defensive Player of the Year
Norchad Omier, Arkansas State
Newcomer of the Year
Efe Odigie, Troy
Freshman of the Year
Duke Deen, Troy
Sixth Man of the Year
Elijah McCadden, Georgia Southern
Coach of the Year
Terrence Johnson, Texas State
All-Sun Belt First Team
Adrian Delph, App State
Norchad Omier, Arkansas State
David Azore, UTA
Caleb Asberry, Texas State
Efe Odigie, Troy
All-Sun Belt Second Team
Vince Cole, Coastal Carolina
Jordan Brown, Louisiana
Jay Jay Chandler, South Alabama
Charles Manning Jr., South Alabama
Mason Harrell, Texas State
All-Sun Belt Third Team
Corey Allen, Georgia State
Kane Williams, Georgia State
Kobe Julien, Louisiana
Andre Jones, ULM
Javon Franklin, South Alabama
The Sun Belt conference tournament gets underway with the first round of the women’s tournament Wednesday afternoon, with the first round of the men’s tournament being played a day later. Georgia State enter the tournament in the quarterfinals on Saturday as the #3 seed and will play the winner of #6 Arkansas State and #11 ULM. Keep it here with THERSdayNight.com, as we will be live at the Pensacola Bay Center with full coverage of the weekend.
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