Men's Basketball Scottie Rodgers

Men's Basketball News and Notes - Season Recap

2019-20 Sun Belt Men's Basketball News and Notes:
Release (PDF) | Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Records Book | Championship
 
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• The 2019-20 season for Sun Belt Conference men's basketball was canceled on March 12 due to concerns surrounding the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  
 
• The season was canceled the day after the quarterfinal games of the 2020 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Championship. No. 3 seed Texas State (21-11, 13-7 Sun Belt) and No. 5 seed Georgia Southern (20-13, 12-8) scored wins on their respective home courts to earn spots in the semifinals with No. 1 Little Rock (21-10, 15-5) and No. 2 South Alabama (20-10, 13-7) in games scheduled to be played at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
 
• Brian Burg was named head coach at Georgia Southern on April 3. Burg, who helped lead Texas Tech to the 2019 NCAA National Championship game and the Big 12 Conference regular-season championship, takes over in Statesboro after four successful seasons.
 
• The Sun Belt raked in national postseason recognitions, highlighted by Little Rock sophomore guard Markquis Nowell and junior forward Ruot Monyyong, Louisiana freshman guard Mylik Wilson and Texas State senior guard Nijal Pearson receiving All-America honors from CollegeInsider.com.

• Sun Belt teams combined for an 72-61 (.541) record in non-conference play, marking the sixth-straight year the conference posted a .500 or better non-conference record during the regular season.
 
• Texas State finished with the Sun Belt's highest ranking in the Ken Pomeroy Ratings (93rd), ESPN College Basketball Power Index (105th), Jeff Sagarin Ratings (107th) and NCAA NET Rankings (120th), while Little Rock had the conference's top ranking in the CBSSports.com RPI (89th). The Sun Belt ranked 14th among the Division I conferences, according to the Sagarin Ratings.
 
• The Sun Belt closed the season with two teams ranked in the final CollegeInsider.com Men's Mid-Major Top 25 with Little Rock ranked 16th and Texas State ranked 22nd to go along with South Alabama receiving votes. 
 
• Little Rock secured its first regular-season title since 2015-16 with its Feb. 29 win over Louisiana. The Trojans were one of just two teams, joining Merrimack in the Northeast Conference, in Division I that finished in first place in their conference after being picked 11th or lower in its conference's preseason poll.
 
• Little Rock head coach Darrell Walker was named Joe Gottfried Sun Belt Coach of the Year honors, joining Wimp Sanderson in 1995-96 and Chris Beard in 2015-16, as the third Trojans mentor to earn the conference's Coach of the Year award.
 
• South Alabama closed the season tied for the eighth-longest active winning streak in NCAA Division I. The Jaguars earned a top-three Sun Belt Tournament seed for the first time since being the No. 3 seed for the 2013 championship.
 
• Texas State earned a top-four seed for the second-straight year and advanced to the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals for the third time in four seasons.
 
• Georgia Southern reached the 20-win mark for the third-straight season, a feat not accomplished since 1986-89. The Eagles have 80 wins in the last four seasons, the most in a four-year period since totaling 84 from 1986-90. Georgia Southern advanced to the Sun Belt Tournament semifinals for the third consecutive season.
 
• Arkansas State (16-16, 8-12) had 35 double-figure scoring games from players off the bench, second-most in Division I behind Winthrop. Senior guard Jerry Johnson Jr. was responsible for 16 double-figure scoring games off the bench. Nationally, the Red Wolves led in free throws made (578) and ranked third in free throw attempts (814).
 
• UTA (14-18, 10-10) had eight different leading scorers and nine different players reach double-figure points in a game. The Mavericks have posted 30 double-figure scoring performances from players off the bench and their leading scorer came off the bench 14 times by seven different players.
 
• Appalachian State finished second in the nation amongst Division I men's basketball programs in the 2020 NCAA Teamworks Helper Helper Community Service Competition. The Mountaineers had 100 percent participation on the team and totaled over 1,000 hours of community service.
 
• Pearson headlined the 2019-20 Sun Belt men's basketball postseason honors, named Player of the Year and earning first-team All-Sun Belt honors for the second year in a row. The school's all-time leading scorer closed his career with 2,122 points, which ranks seventh in conference history and stood 22nd among active Division I players this season. Pearson was just the 10th player in Sun Belt history to reach 2,000 career points and first player in school history to score 500 points in three consecutive seasons.
 
• Monyyong, the 2019-20 Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, led the conference in rebounds per game (9.8), blocks per game (2.0) and double-doubles (16). His presence in the middle for the Trojans was highlighted by averaging 7.6 boards per game off the defensive glass, which ranks 15th nationally. His 16 double-doubles ranked tied for 17th nationally. His 62 blocks rank third all-time in school history and were the most in a single season in Little Rock's Division I era. Monyyong scored in double figures 24 times and posted 18 double-digit rebounding performances.
 
• Wilson, the 2019-20 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year, averaged 11.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.3 steals per game and finished as the lone Division I freshman nationally to 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals per game. He was the 21st Division I freshman since 1992-93 to average 11/5/2/2, joining a list that includes NBA stars James Harden and Zion Williamson. Wilson led all Sun Belt freshmen in scoring, rebounds, steals and minutes.
 
• Georgia Southern redshirt senior guard Ike Smith was named a recipient of the 2020 All-American Athlete Award by the National Strength and Conditioning Association for his accomplishments and his dedication to strength and conditioning. Smith closed his career with 1,931 career points (24th among active Division I players this season), which ranks for 14th on the conference's all-time list.
 
• South Alabama redshirt senior forward Josh Ajayi closed his career with 1,691 career points, which ranked 49th among active Division I players this season. Ajayi's 829 career rebounds rank 21st in conference history and tied for 30th among active Division I players this season.
 
• Appalachian State senior forward Isaac Johnson closed his career with 976 career rebounds, which ranks fifth in conference history. His career total ranked fifth among active Division I players this season.
 
• South Alabama redshirt senior forward Trhae Mitchell closed his career ranked 18th in conference history with 185 career blocks. His 47 blocks this season ranked second in the conference and his 1.5 blocks per games ranked tied for second.
 
• With 109 Sun Belt wins, Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin ranks fourth in Sun Belt history in all-time conference wins. Marlin's total trails former Middle Tennessee State's Kermit Davis, Jr., (117), South Alabama's Ronnie Arrow (112) and UAB's Gene Bartow (111).
 
• Marlin is one of four current head coaches in the conference's top 12 all-time in Sun Belt coaching wins – ULM head coach Keith Richard is sixth (101), Coastal Carolina head coach Cliff Ellis is eighth (89) and Georgia Southern head coach Mark Byington is 12th (70).
 
• Ellis is set to enter the 2020-21 season with 858 career coaching victories, which ranks him fifth among all active Division I basketball head coaches. His 780 NCAA Division I victories rank 11th all-time and sixth among current active Division I head coaches.
 
• Sun Belt men’s basketball had three new head coaches roaming the sidelines in 2019-20 – Appalachian State's Dustin Kerns, Georgia State's Rob Lanier and Troy's Scott Cross.
 
• The Jan. 18 game between Louisiana and Texas State resulted in an interesting statistic. In that game, both teams were perfect from the charity stripe – Ragin' Cajuns were 13-of-13 and the Bobcats were 8-of-8. It marked the eighth time since the 2014-15 season that this occurrence happened in a Division I men's game, according to Sports Reference.
 
• Ten Sun Belt players were named to the midseason watch list for the 2020 Dos Equis 3X3U National Championship, which was scheduled to be held April 3-5 at Atlantic Station in Atlanta as a part of the festivities surrounding the 2020 NCAA Men's Final Four.
 
• The Sun Belt showcased a record 335 games on the ESPN family of networks this season – 327 regular-season home games (172 men and 151 women) and 12 Sun Belt Basketball Championship games (six men and six women).

• Nowell and Coastal Carolina sophomore guard DeVante Jones were among names on the midseason watch list for the 2019-20 Lou Henson Award, presented annually to the nation's top Division I mid-major player. Smith, Pearson and South Alabama redshirt senior forward Trhae Mitchell were among the initial list of players listed on the preseason watch list.

• The Sun Belt pulled in numerous national preseason honors and recognitions, headlined by South Alabama recognized as the conference's preseason favorite by multiple publications.

• South Alabama was selected by the conference's 12 head coaches as the preseason favorite as well to go along with Mitchell selected as the league's Preseason Player of the Year.
 
• Three former Sun Belt standouts graced on NBA rosters this season. Former Little Rock star Rayjon Tucker signed with the Utah Jazz on Dec. 23. Tucker spent the first part of the season with the Wisconsin Herd, the NBA G League affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks, starting 16 games and averaging 23.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 33.8 minutes per game. Tucker joined Louisiana's Elfrid Payton, who was playing in his sixth NBA season and first with the New York Knicks, and UTA's Kevin Hervey, who signed a two-way contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Dec. 13.
 
• The Sun Belt announced on March 3 that the 2021-25 men's and women's basketball championships will be held in Pensacola, Fla., at the Pensacola Bay Center and Hartsell Arena on the campus of Pensacola State College.