HOUSTON – Louisiana men’s basketball forward Jordan Brown has been named the recipient of the 2023 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award. The honor is presented annually to the top Mid-Major Player in Division I Men’s College Basketball.
Brown, the Most Outstanding Performer of the 2023 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Championship and a First-Team All-Sun Belt selection in 2023, is a 6-foot-11 junior from Roseville, Calif.
Brown was one of three Sun Belt Conference players named to the Lou Henson All-America Team, joining Southern Miss’ Austin Crowley and Marshall’s Taevion Kinsey. All three were First-Team All-Sun Belt honorees and Kinsey was the Sun Belt’s Player of the Year.
Brown ranked top-five in the Sun Belt Conference in both points per game (19.3) and rebounds per game (8.6). He led Louisiana to the 2023 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Conference Tournament Championship and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament with a No. 13 seed. The Ragin’ Cajuns played fourth-seeded Tennessee to the wire in the NCAA First Round before falling 58-55.
Louisiana posted a 26-8 overall record in 2022-23, including a 13-5 mark in Sun Belt Conference play. The Ragin’ Cajuns were a perfect 14-0 at home this season.
The Lou Henson Award honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons. Henson is the all-time winningest coach in the history of both schools and is one of only 11 coaches to take two different schools to the NCAA Final Four. His teams made 19 NCAA Tournament appearances and four National Invitation Tournament showings.
Players on teams from the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC, West Coast.
The recipient of the annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.
2023 Lou Henson All-America Team
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts
Dalton Bolon, Charleston
Mike Bothwell, Furman
Jordan Brown, Louisiana
Joe Bryant, Jr., Norfolk State
Sincere Carry, Kent State
Walter Clayton, Jr., Iona
Austin Crowley, Southern Miss
Antoine Davis, Detroit
RayJ Dennis, Toledo
Tucker DeVries, Drake
Jordan Dingle, Penn
Aaron Estrada, Hofstra
Logan Johnson, Saint Mary’s
Tevian Jones, Southern Utah
Taevion Kinsey, Marshall
Ryan Larson, Charleston
Darius McGhee, Liberty
Ajay Mitchell, UCSB
Drew Pember, UNC Asheville
Dylan Penn, Vermont
Brandin Podziemski, Santa Clara
Tucker Richardson, Colgate
Cam Shelton, Loyola Marymount
DeMarcus Sharp, Northwestern State
Ben Sheppard, Belmont
JT Shumate, Toledo
Jalen Slawson, Furman
Marques Warrick, Northern Kentucky
Chris Youngblood, Kennesaw State