Another WVU Basketball Player Also Receives Honors
The Big 12 Conference announced their Men’s Basketball Awards. WVU guards Javon Small and Sencire Harris both received recognition from the league. Small was named to the All-Big 12 First Team, while Harris to the All-Defensive Team.
Small finished the regular season tied for the league lead in scoring (18.5). He also finished third in assists per game (5.6). He was also near the top in minutes played, free throw shooting percentage and three-point percentage.
Joining Small on the First Team were: Houston’s LJ Cryer, Iowa State’s Curtis Jones, BYU’s Richie Saunders, and Texas Tech’s JT Toppin. Also making the first team were Caleb Love (Arizona), Norchad Omier (Baylor), J’Wan Roberts (Houston), Hunter Dickinson (Kansas), and Darrion Williams (Texas Tech).
Many Mountaineers fans felt Small deserved to be named the Big 12 Player of the Year. Instead, that award went to Toppin, who was also named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Toppin finished the season ranked top three in the league in both scoring (18.1) and rebounding (9.3). Other awards given out by the conference were: Defensive Player of the Year (Joseph Tugler, Houston), Scholar-Athlete of the Year (Cryer), and Big 12 Coach of the Year (Kelvin Sampson, Houston). Saunders was named Most Improved Player of the Year. Iowa State’s Jones was named Sixth Man of the Year, and Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe was named Freshman of the Year.
Joining Sencire Harris on the All-Defensive Team were: Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State), J’Wan Roberts (Houston), Tugler (Houston) and Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State).
Rounding out the awards were the All-Big 12 Second and Third teams. They can be found below:
All-Big 12 Second Team
VJ Edgecombe, Baylor
Keyshawn Hall, UCF
Milos Uzan, Houston
Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
Chance McMillian, Texas Tech
All-Big 12 Third Team
Joseph Tugler, Houston
Zeke Mayo, Kansas
Coleman Hawkins, Kansas State
Keshon Gilbert, Iowa State
Tamin Lipsey, Iowa State
There’s a fair argument to be made that Javon Small was robbed of the Player of the Year Award. Not only do his stats stack up against any player in the conference, he carried the Mountaineer team on his back. With another potential All-Big 12 level player in Tucker DeVries missing most of the season with an injury, Small garnered most of the attention from opposing defenses. Despite that, he still performed at a high level. He led the revamped WVU team to 19 wins and likely an appearance in the NCAA Tournament. It’s hard to argue that any player in the Big 12 was more important to their team’s success than Javon Small was to West Virginia’s.
In a recent episode of Hoops from the Hills, I explain why Small deserved to be named Player of the year.
Photo credit: WVU Athletics
