Rock Hill, S.C. – The Big South Conference announced its annual men's basketball awards Monday evening and Winthrop's
D.J. Burns Jr. was voted as the Big South Freshman of the Year while as a whole the team garnered six honors.
Burns Jr. also earned All-Big South second team honors and was joined on the second team by
Chandler Vaudrin.
Hunter Hale also earned All-Big South Honorable Mention honors. It is the first time since 2015-16 the Eagles had three players earn all-conference honors.
For just the third time in program history, a Winthrop player was voted as the league's top rookie. Burns Jr. enters the conference tournament ranked second on the team in scoring at 12.2 ppg and averaged 13.2 ppg in conference games. He leads the conference in field goal percentage (.585) and is 19
th in scoring. Burns Jr. has 19 double-figure games including a career-high 23 points in the win at Charleston Southern. He's the Winthrop player to earn freshman of the year honors since Tyrone Walker did so in 2000-01. Tyson Waterman in 1995-96 is the only other Eagle to earn the honor.
Vaudrin averages 9.3 ppg, 5.9 rpg and 5.9 apg while also leading the team in steals. Vaudrin is coming off a career-best 15 assists in the win over High Point on Feb. 29, his third game with 10 or more assists this season. His 177 assists on the year currently rank 4
th at Winthrop in a single-season, just seven away from the second most (Rick Riese / 1978-79). Vaudrin didn't start the first four games of the season, yet led the team in assists per game during that stretch (5.5 per game). In conference play, Vaudrin averaged 9.5 ppg, 6.2 apg and 6.1 rpg. In the league opener against Longwood, Vaudrin posted a triple-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
Hale leads the team in scoring at 13.3 ppg and in conference play at 15.4 ppg. Hale is coming off his fourth 20-point game of the season in the win over High Point and has 22 double-figure games on the year. Surpassed 1,300 points in his career this season, passed 200 three-pointers and assists. In the league opener against Longwood he posted a career-high 29 points. His 74 threes on the year ties for 11
th in program history for threes made in a single-season. Hale averaged 17.2 ppg on the year against the other three teams in the Top 4 of the league standings (Radford/Gardner-Webb/Longwood).
Junior
Kyle Zunic was named to the Big South Conference All-Academic Team. It is just the fourth time the Eagles have had three all-conference selections in the same season.
2019-20 MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE
First-Team All-Conference
Carlik Jones, G, R-Jr., Radford
Jermaine Marrow, G, Sr., Hampton
Ben Stanley, F, R-Soph., Hampton
Phlandrous Fleming Jr., G/F, Jr., Charleston Sou.
Travis Fields Jr., G, Sr., Radford
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Second-Team All-Conference
DeVon Baker, G, Soph., UNC Asheville
Nate Johnson, G, R-Jr., Gardner-Webb
Chandler Vaudrin, G, R-Jr., Winthrop
DJ Burns Jr., C, R-Fr., Winthrop
Eric Jamison Jr., G, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
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Honorable Mention All-Conference
Hunter Hale, G, Gr., Winthrop
LJ Thorpe, F., Jr., UNC Asheville
Cory Hightower, F, Soph., Presbyterian
Jaheam Cornwall, G, Jr., Gardner-Webb
John-Michael Wright, G, Fr., High Point
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All-Freshman Team
DJ Burns Jr., C, Winthrop
John-Michael Wright, G, High Point
Tommy Bruner, G, USC Upstate
Kareem Reid, F, Gardner-Webb
Travis Anderson, G, Charleston Sou.
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All-Academic Team
Cory Gensler, G, Sr., Campbell
Eric Jamison Jr., F, R-Sr., Gardner-Webb
Caden Sanchez, F, R-Soph., High Point
Sean Flood, G, Sr., Longwood
JC Younger, G, Sr., Presbyterian College
Chyree Walker, F, R-Soph., Radford
Jax Levitch, F, R-Jr., UNC Asheville
Nevin Zink, C, Soph., USC Upstate
Kyle Zunic, F, Jr., Winthrop
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Player of the Year
Carlik Jones, G, R-Jr., Radford
Freshman of the Year
DJ Burns Jr., C, R-Fr., Winthrop
Defensive Player of the Year
Phlandrous Fleming Jr., G/F, Jr., Charleston Sou.
Coach of the Year
Mike Jones, Radford
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Cory Gensler, G, Sr., Campbell
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