The Lou Henson Award is an award given annually by Collegeinsider.com to the most outstanding mid-major men's college basketball player in NCAA Division I competition. The award, established in 2010, is named for esteemed men's college basketball head coach Lou Henson .[ 1] Henson, who coached at Hardin–Simmons , New Mexico State , and Illinois , compiled 779 all-time wins.[ 1] He is in the top 10 of NCAA coaching wins in men's basketball history.
Eligible conferences [ edit ] The list of eligible conferences has always excluded all conferences that sponsor FBS football except for the MAC and the Sun Belt. The Atlantic 10 Conference , which has not sponsored football at all since 2006, has also been excluded throughout the award's history.[ 2] Following major conference realignment that peaked in 2013, the WAC, which dropped football after the 2012 season , was added to the eligible list, while both offshoots of the original Big East Conference —the FBS American Athletic Conference and the current non-football Big East —were excluded from eligibility.
Definitions of the term "mid-major" in the context of college basketball vary widely. For purposes of both the Henson Award, Collegeinsider.com has established its own definition of the term, which includes members of the following conferences, as well as any basketball independents .[ 1]
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Lou Henson Award at that point
^ a b c "About the award" . LouHenson.com . Collegeinsider.com . 2024. Retrieved July 16, 2024 . The Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in division I college basketball, honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons. ^ "CollegeInsider.com establishes the Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award" (Press release). CollegeInsider.com. January 27, 2010. Retrieved July 16, 2024 . Note that this source lists the conferences whose players are eligible for the award. ^ "Oakland University to host Henson tournament" . Detroit Free Press . Detroit, Michigan . August 4, 2010. p. 21. Retrieved July 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com . ^ "Another award for Howard" . Courier Journal . Louisville, Kentucky . July 10, 2011. p. C3. Retrieved July 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. ^ "MEAC Hall of Fame: Kyle O'Quinn (2019)" . MEACsports.com . Sidearm Sports. 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2024 . ^ a b Sargent, Tucker (April 7, 2014). "Hall garners Lou Henson Award for top Mid-Major player" . NBC 41 . Dallas, Texas . Retrieved July 16, 2024 . ^ LeCompte, Ricardo (April 3, 2015). "USC Upstate's Greene wins Lou Henson National Player of the Year award" . NBC 41 . Indianapolis, Indiana . Retrieved July 16, 2024 . ^ "SFA's Walkup Named Lou Henson Player of the Year" . Southland.org . Houston, Texas . April 5, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2024 . ^ Doughty, Doug (November 19, 2017). "Men's Basketball – Monmouth at UVa" . The Roanoke Times . Roanoke, Virginia . p. 34. Retrieved July 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. ^ Schiffer, Alex (October 4, 2018). "BV Northwest star doesn't want to be a 'one-hit wonder' " . The Kansas City Star . Kansas City, Missouri . p. B2. Retrieved July 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. ^ "Magee named Lou Henson Player of the Year" . The Greenville News . Greenville, South Carolina . April 7, 2019. p. C3. Retrieved July 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. ^ "Knight takes home two national POY honors" . Daily Press . Newport News, Virginia . March 28, 2020. p. B1. Retrieved July 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. ^ "Abmas garners Lou Henson Award as nation's top mid-major player" . TheSummitLeague.org . Boston, Massachusetts . April 1, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2024 . ^ Lawson, Theo (June 5, 2022). "Championship mentality" . The Spokesman-Review . Spokane, Washington . p. B1. Retrieved July 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. ^ Munz, Jason (December 10, 2023). "Hardaway gives Jordan Brown update" . The Commercial Appeal . Memphis, Tennessee . p. B3. Retrieved July 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. ^ "Mid-major star visiting UA" . Arizona Daily Star . Tucson, Arizona . April 17, 2024. p. C5. Retrieved July 16, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
U.S. men's college basketball awards
Player awards
Head coach awards
National coaches of the year Conference coaches of the year
Division awards Other awards