Horizon League Reveals 2021-22 #HLMBB All-League Awards
INDIANAPOLIS – Detroit Mercy senior Antoine Davis and Oakland senior Jamal Cain were named the Horizon League Co-Players of the Year, as the League announced its men’s basketball All-League honors on Monday. Sam Vinson of Northern Kentucky was selected Freshman of the Year, Cleveland State’s D’Moi Hodge earned Defensive Player of the Year and Purdue Fort Wayne’s Deonte Billups was named the Sixth Man of the Year. In addition, Jon Coffman was selected as the Coach of the Year for the first time. All awards were voted on by the League’s head coaches.
Davis collects his first Player of the Year honor after leading the HL in scoring for the fourth year in a row. The HL’s Preseason Player of the Year selection currently ranks third in the country with 23.7 points per game, while also second in the nation in 3-pointers per game with just under four per contest. Davis leads the League with five 30-point games this season including a pair of 39-point performances, the most points scored by a HL player this year. The senior finished #HLMBB play averaging a League-best 24.1 points to go along with 4.6 assists, good for second in the HL. Davis broke several career marks this season including becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer and currently ranks third on the HL’s all-time scoring list, while also setting the Horizon League record for career 3-pointers. Davis also set the HL’s all-time scoring record in League play becoming the first HL player to go over 1,600 points against League opponents. Along with earning Player of the Year, Davis becomes the first player in Horizon League history to be a four-time member of the All-League First Team.
In his first season with the Golden Grizzlies, Jamal Cain earns Horizon League Player of the Year honors and joins Kendrick Nunn (2018) and Kay Felder (2016) as the only Oakland players to earn the distinction. The senior finished the regular season averaging 20.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, one of only two players in the country to average over 20 points and 10 rebounds and the only HL player to be averaging a double-double. Cain also ranks 10th in the country with a League-best 15 double-doubles. He recorded two games this season with 30-plus points and 10-plus rebounds and also registered a 21-rebound performance, the most boards by a Horizon League player this year. During #HLMBB play, Cain finished first in rebounding with 10.2 boards, fourth in scoring at 19.2 and sixth in field goal percentage at 47.4 percent, while posting a League-high 11 double-doubles. It is just the third time in League history that two student-athletes have been named Player of the Year and the first since 1982-83.
Northern Kentucky’s Vinson ended the regular season averaging 11.8 points per game and garnered seven #HLMBB Freshman of the Week honors en route to being named Freshman of the Year. The Fort Thomas, Ky. native finished the regular season third in the HL in steals with just over two a game while also top-15 in assists (3.3) and 3-pointers per game (1.6). In League play, the freshman averaged 12.7 points, 3.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Vinson registered three 20-point performances during Horizon League play including setting a career-high 24 points on Jan. 20. This marks the second-straight season that a Norse player has earned Freshman of the Year as Vinson’s teammate Marques Warrick earned the honor last year.
Billups came off the bench in every game during League play this season for Purdue Fort Wayne and averaged 9.1 points to earn Sixth Man of the Year. He finished HL play ranked in the top-5 in total 3-pointers made with 45 and top-10 in 3-pointers per game with 2.1. He also grabbed 3.2 boards while playing 23.0 minutes per game. The junior recorded 10 double-digit scoring games this Horizon League season, including a season-high 18 points in the regular season finale at Detroit Mercy to help the Mastodons claim a share of their first Horizon League regular season title.
Cleveland State’s Hodge was voted Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Horizon League in steals with 2.3 per game, good for 13th in the country and was a leader on the defensive side of the ball for a Vikings team that finished top-2 this season in defensive field goal percentage. He also ranks ninth in the nation with 64 total swipes this year. During Horizon League play, the senior turned up the pressure even more with a League-best 2.4 steals per game. Hodge joins his teammate Tre Gomillion, who won the award last season, as one of only four CSU players to ever earn Defensive Player of the Year honors.
Purdue Fort Wayne’s Coffman claims his first Horizon League Coach of the Year award after leading the Mastodons to a share of the regular season title in just their second year in the HL after joining the League prior to the 2020-21 season. Purdue Fort Wayne was the only team in Horizon League play to rank inside the top-4 in both scoring offense and scoring defense. The ‘Dons were picked to finish ninth in the preseason poll but ended the season with a 15-6 mark in Horizon League play and closed the season on a nine-game winning streak to earn the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Keeps Horizon League Men’s Basketball Championship.
Davis and Cain are joined on the All-Horizon League First Team by Cleveland State’s Hodge, Purdue Fort Wayne’s Jarred Godfrey and Tanner Holden of Wright State. Along with his defensive prowess, Hodge led the top-seeded Vikings in scoring at 15.6 points during HL games, including a pair of 31-point performances, and shot just under 50 percent from the floor while hitting 2.0 3-pointers per game. Godfrey jumps up to the All-League first team after earning third team honors a season ago as he averaged 15.1 points with 2.2 3-pointers per game, a 47.7 percent field goal percentage, 4.0 assists and 1.8 steals per game, all good for top-10 rankings in the HL. Holden is a first team honoree for the second-straight season and finished third in the Horizon League in scoring at 19.9 points per game, fifth in field goal percentage at 50.4 and eighth in the rebounds with 7.1. He also currently leads the country in made free throws with 173.
The All-Horizon League Second Team is comprised of Cleveland State’s Torrey Patton, Northern Kentucky’s Marques Warrick, Jalen Moore of Oakland, Grant Basile of Wright State and Youngstown State’s Michael Akuchie. Akuchie is the only first-time All-League honoree on the second team as Patton and Moore were first team selections a year ago, while Basile earns second team honors for the second consecutive season and Warrick was on the third team.
The All-Horizon League Third Team includes Tre Gomillion of Cleveland State, Purdue Fort Wayne’s Jalon Pipkins, RMU’s Kahliel Spear, Damaria Franklin of UIC and Dwayne Cohill of Youngstown State. All five members of the third team are first time selections.
Vinson is joined on the All-Freshman Team by teammates Kamari McGee and Cade Meyer of Green Bay, UIC’s Jace Carter and Wright State’s AJ Braun. Cleveland State finished with a trio of players on the All-Defensive Team as Hodge is joined by Gomillion and Deante Johnson along with Oakland’s Micah Parrish and Purdue Fort Wayne’s Pipkins.
The 2022 Keeps Horizon League Basketball Championships will begin March 1 and 3 at campus sites and eight teams – four men and four women – will look to advance to Indianapolis and #REACHtheHORIZON on March 7-8 at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
For complete information on the 2022 Keeps Horizon League Basketball Championships, visit HorizonLeague.com/Indy.
2021-22 #HLMBB All-League Awards
Co-Players of the Year: Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy & Jamal Cain, Oakland
Coach of the Year: Jon Coffman, Purdue Fort Wayne
Freshman of the Year: Sam Vinson, Northern Kentucky
Defensive Player of the Year: D’Moi Hodge, Cleveland State
Sixth Man of the Year: Deonte Billups, Purdue Fort Wayne
All-Horizon League First Team (alphabetical by school)
D'Moi Hodge, Cleveland State
Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy
Jamal Cain, Oakland
Jarred Godfrey, Purdue Fort Wayne
Tanner Holden, Wright State
All-Horizon League Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Torrey Patton, Cleveland State
Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky
Jalen Moore, Oakland
Grant Basile, Wright State
Michael Akuchie, Youngstown State
All-Horizon League Third Team (alphabetical by school)
Tre Gomillion, Cleveland State
Jalon Pipkins, Purdue Fort Wayne
Kahliel Spear, RMU
Damaria Franklin, UIC
Dwayne Cohill, Youngstown State
Horizon League All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school)
Kamari McGee, Green Bay
Cade Meyer, Green Bay
Sam Vinson, Northern Kentucky
Jace Carter, UIC
AJ Braun, Wright State
Horizon League All-Defensive Team (alphabetical by school)
Tre Gomillion, Cleveland State
D'Moi Hodge, Cleveland State
Deante Johnson, Cleveland State
Micah Parrish, Oakland
Jalon Pipkins, Purdue Fort Wayne