Big South preseason honors for Elijah Wilson and D.J. Mason

CHARLOTTE, NC (BigSouthSports.com) – For the third consecutive year, High Point redshirt-senior John Brown (Jacksonville, Fla.) has been voted the Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Preseason Player of the Year by the League’s head coaches and media panel, it was announced today at the Conference’s Basketball Tip-Off Media Breakfast at the Fairfield Inn & Suites Charlotte Uptown hotel in Charlotte, N.C.  Brown is the first men’s player in Big South history to be named Preseason Player of the Year in three consecutive seasons.

Brown is one of 20 initial preseason candidates for the Julius Erving Award, which is given annually to the top small forward in men’s college basketball.  He is the only player from a mid-major program on the watch list.  Brown enters the 2015-16 season as the nation’s No. 3 returning scorer (1,680 career points) and the NCAA Division I active leader in field goals made (646).  He is just one of two returning players nationally to have posted 1,500 points and 600 rebounds in a career.  A 2014 Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American and the 2014 Big South Player of the Year, Brown was named to the NABC All-District Team in 2015 for the second-straight season, and was named a finalist for the 2015 Lou Henson Award, given to the nation’s top mid-major player.  Brown proved to be one of the most consistent scorers in the nation in 2014-15, as he posted at least 20 points in 15 contests, ranked ninth in the country in field goals made (242), was 26th nationally in scoring (19.3 ppg) and 32nd in field goal percentage (.550).  He averaged 26.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and shot 57.4 percent in High Point’s three postseason contests a year ago, and is looking to become just the second player in Big South history with four First-Team All-Conference selections.  Brown received 28 of the 31 first-place votes and finished with 306 points in the balloting to earn the top spot on the preseason All-Conference team.

First-Team
John Brown, High Point, R-Sr., F (6-8, 210 – Jacksonville, Fla.)
Elijah Wilson, Coastal Carolina, Jr., G (6-4, 205 – Wilmington, N.C.) **Laney High
DeSean Murray, Presbyterian College, Soph., F (6-5, 225 – Stanley, N.C.)
Tyrell Nelson, Gardner-Webb, Jr., F (6-7, 235 – Charlotte, N.C.)
Keon Johnson, Winthrop, Jr., G (5-7, 160 – Mansfield, Ohio)

Second-Team
Lotanna Nwogbo, Longwood, R-Sr., F/C (6-8, 255 – Lithonia, Ga.)
Badou Diagne, Coastal Carolina, Sr., F (6-7, 220 – Dakar, Senegal)
Adam Weary, High Point, Sr., G (6-3, 205 – Memphis, Tenn.)
Xavier Cooks, Winthrop, Soph., G/F (6-8, 185 – Wollongong, New South Wales)
D.J. Mason, Campbell, Sr., F (6-6, 220 – Clarkton, N.C.) **West Bladen High

Wilson was the 2015 Big South Tournament MVP after averaging 20.3 points in the conference tournament and leading the Chanticleers to their second consecutive title.  He averaged 11.3 points to finish third on the squad, and was the team’s fifth-leading rebounder with 3.5 per game.  Wilson needs 78 points for 1,000 in his career.

Murray was the 2014-15 Big South Freshman of the Year after averaging 15.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 51.9 percent from the field in 20 contests.  He earned Honorable Mention All-Conference honors, and ranked ninth in scoring, third in rebounding and field goal shooting, seventh in steals and third in offensive rebounds in Big South games last season.

Nelson led the Big South and ranked seventh in the nation in field goal percentage with a 60.9 clip.  He ranked second on the squad with 13.9 points and 6.5 rebounds, and posted six double-doubles.  A member of the 2013-14 All-Freshman Team, Nelson averaged 13.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 61.0 percent from the field in league competition.

Johnson was Winthrop’s second-leading scorer last season with 11.5 points and scored 18 points in the Big South Championship game.  Just the second player in school history with 50 three-point field goals in his freshman and sophomore seasons, Johnson was fourth in the league with an 83.0 free throw percentage.  He tallied four 20-point games in 2014-15.

The Preseason All-Conference Second-Team features one All-Freshman Team member from last season (Cooks), a 2013 All-Freshman Team honoree (Weary), the Big South’s fifth-leading rebounder last season (Diagne), a 50 percent field goal shooter (Mason) and a player ranked among the league’s top five in rebounds and double-doubles prior to a season-ending injury (Nwogbo).