BOSTON, Mass. – Jax State's
KyKy Tandy was among those listed on the mid-season watch list for the 2023-24 Lou Henson Award for the most-outstanding mid-major men's basketball player.
The Lou Henson award honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons. Coach Henson is the winningest coach in Illinois basketball history with 423 victories. During his 21 seasons (1975-1996), Henson led the Fighting Illini to 16 postseason appearances, including 12 NCAA tournaments and a Final Four appearance in 1989.
Henson, who is also the all-time winningest coach in New Mexico State history with 289 victories, is one of only 11 coaches to take two different schools to the NCAA Final Four. His teams made 19 NCAA appearances and four NIT appearances.
Coach Henson passed away on July 25, 2020.
Players on teams from the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Conference USA, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC, West Coast.
Tandy, a 6-foot-2 guard from Hopkinsville, Ky., is in his first season with the Gamecocks as a graduate transfer. He spent four seasons at Xavier, but struggled through a series of injuries that caused him to miss extensive stretches in multiples different seasons. With the Gamecocks, he's averaging a Conference USA-leading 19 points per game with seven games of 20-or-more. He's the reigning CUSA Player of the Week following a 35-point outing in the win over FIU.
On Wednesday, Tandy helped guide Jax State to a 61-51 road win at Liberty to move to 2-0 to begin CUSA play while extending the Gamecocks' winning streak to six games overall.
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.
The 2024 award will be announced in Phoenix, AZ, site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship.
Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List
Tyson Acuff, Eastern Michigan
De'Sean Allen-Eikens, CSUN
Rasheed Bello, Purdue Fort Wayne
T.J. Bickerstaff, James Madison
Jalen Blackmon, Stetson
Tommy Bruner, Denver
Terrell Burden, Kennesaw State
Clarence Daniels, New Hampshire
Tucker DeVries, Drake
Terrence Edwards Jr., James Madison
Enrique Freeman, Akron
Tyon Grant-Foster, Grand Canyon
Marcus Hill, Bowling Green
Xavier Johnson, Southern Illinois
Dillon Jones, Weber State
Xaivian Lee, Princeton
Malik Mack, Harvard
Issac McBride, Oral Roberts
Duke Miles, High Point
Riley Minix, Morehead State
Ajay Mitchell, UC Santa Barbara
Jonathan Mogbo, San Francisco
Drew Pember, UNC Asheville
Elijah Pepper, UC Davis
Caden Pierce, Princeton
Xander Rice, Monmouth
Kyle Rode, Liberty
Reyne Smith, Charleston
TreVon Spillers, Appalachian State
Isaiah Swope, Indiana State
KyKy Tandy, Jacksonville State
Jamarii Thomas, Norfolk State
Tyler Thomas, Hofstra
Trey Townsend, Oakland
Marques Warrick, NKU
Shahada Wells, McNeese
Trazarien White, UNCW
Amari Williams, Drexel
Danny Wolf, Yale
Vonterius Woolbright, Western Carolina
