ATLANTA, Ga. (February 27, 2023) – The Southern Athletic Association has revealed the 2023 men’s basketball All-Conference teams.  
 
SAA regular season champion Berry won three of the four major awards. Chase Ellis was voted the Player of the Year, Braxton Benham the Defensive Player of the Year, and Mick Hegepeth the Coach of the Year. Cade Stinnett from Centre was honored as Newcomer of the Year.
 
Major award winners and all-conference teams were selected by the SAA’s eight head coaches.
 
SAA Player of the Year: Chase Ellis (Berry)
SAA Defensive Player of the Year: Braxton Benham (Berry)
SAA Newcomer of the Year: Cade Stinnett (Centre)
SAA Coach of the Year: Mick Hedgepeth (Berry)
 
FIRST TEAM ALL-SAA*
Chase Ellis - Berry
Jalen Essick - Rhodes
Uba Ezigbo - Oglethorpe
Colin Kahl - Sewanee
Russ Marr - Sewanee
Koki Wiley - Rhodes
 
SECOND TEAM ALL-SAA
Braxton Benham - Berry
Josh Childers - Birmingham-Southern
Tyler Deithloff - Hendrix
Jay Gillispie  - Birmingham-Southern
Cade Stinnett - Centre
 
SAA HONORABLE MENTION
Berry: Blake Campbell, Riley Costas, Michael Johnson, Owen Honroth,
Hendrix: Colton Berry, Caleb Squires
Oglethorpe: Jordan James
Millsaps: Doug Watson
Rhodes: Phil Dotson, Jefferson Walker
Sewanee: Luka Avaliani, Tre Corrigan
 *Note: there was a tie for the fifth First Team All-SAA position. Per the SAA manual, that tie is not broken.
 
Ellis was the undisputed leader of the SAA regular season champion Vikings, recording 15.5 points and seven rebounds a game on the season. In conference play, the junior netted 14.9 a night to go along with 6.5 rebounds and two assists. Ellis posted three double-doubles in conference play and flirted with triple-double against Millsaps, recording 19 points, 12 rebounds and five assists.
 
Benham averaged 2.2 steals and 4.2 rebounds a game in conference play. Three times he grabbed four steals in a conference game and enjoyed a big day against Sewanee with 19 points, five rebounds, and four steals.
 
Stinnett led the SAA in conference scoring, averaging 19.9 points in league games. The freshman ranked eighth in rebounding with 6.1 a night. Stinnett had four conference double-doubles, including a 24 points, 11 rebounds game against Millsaps and 22 points, 11 rebounds game at Sewanee.
 
Hedgepeth is in his first season at the helm of the Berry program and led the Vikings to an unbeaten SAA season and the regular season conference title. He coached six Vikings to All-SAA teams this season, including the Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year.