ATLANTA, Ga. (February 22, 2024) – The Southern Athletic Association has announced its 2023-24 men’s basketball Athletes of the Year, Coach of the Year, and All-Conference teams.
Regular season champion Berry headlined the list with Blake Campbell being voted the SAA Player of the Year and Braxton Benham repeating as Defensive Player of the Year. Centre’s Riley Mastin was named the Rookie of the Year and Chris Graves of Birmingham-Southern the Coach of the Year.
The trio of standouts were part of 22 athletes named 2023-24 All-SAA. Campbell was joined on the First Team by Phil Dotson (Rhodes), Jay Gillispie (Birmingham-Southern), Russ Marr (Sewanee) and Perry Robinson (Oglethorpe). Benham and Mastin headlined the Second Team, along with Luka Avaliani (Sewanee), Brody Davis (Birmingham-Southern), and Cade Stinnett (Centre).
Complete 2023-24 Men's Basketball All-SAA
All-SAA voting was conducted among the conference’s eight head coaches.
Blake Campbell (Senior / Cleveland, Tenn.) was stellar in conference play, putting up 19.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists per SAA contest. He led the league in shooting, hitting 56 percent from the field. He senior went off in the Vikings overtime win against Sewanee, filling the box score with 40 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Overall, Campbell tied for second in the conference in scoring with 20.4 points a game. He is the third Viking to be voted SAA Player of the Year, joining Chase Ellis last season and Elijah Hirsch in 2019. Campbell was twice named SAA Athlete of the Week this year and landed on the conference Honorable Mention list last season.
Braxton Benham (Junior / Cartersville, Ga.) is just the second player in SAA history to earn back-to-back SAA Defensive Player of the Year awards, joining Tyler Wesley of Centre who won three-straight from 2014-2016. He brings the award back to Mount Berry for the fourth-straight season Riley Costas won in 2022 and Micah Johnson in 2021. Benham ranked seventh in the nation and led the SAA in steals this season, averaging 3.2 per game in conference play and 2.8 a night overall. Benham also ranked 10
th in rebounding with 5.5 a game. He earned SAA Athlete of the Week honors on November 11, averaging 21 points, 7.5 rebounds and five assists over two games.
Riley Mastin (First Year / Mount Olivet, Ky.) enjoyed a standout first collegiate season, ranking third in league play with 18.7 points a game to go along with 8.4 rebounds an outing. He posted six double-doubles on the season, including 26 points and 14 rebounds against Hendrix and 33 points and 12 rebounds against Rhodes in back-to-back games. Mastin was voted the SAA Athlete of the Week on January 29.
Chris Graves (Birmingham-Southern / 12th year) guided Birmingham-Southern to a second place finish in the SAA standings after being picked to finish tied for fourth in the preseason poll. Graves led the Panthers to a 9-5 record in conference play and 15-11 mark overall. He put three players on all-conference squads this season in first teamer Jay Gillispie, second teamer Brody Davis and Honorable Mention Kaleb Green. Graves was also voted the SAA Coach of the Year in 2016.
2023-24 SAA Men’s Basketball All-Conference Awards
Player of the Year – Blake Campbell, Berry
Defensive Player of the Year – Braxton Benham, Berry
Rookie of the Year – Riley Mastin, Centre
Coach of the Year – Chris Graves, Birmingham-Southern
First Team All-SAA
Blake Campbell, Berry
Phil Dotson, Rhodes
Jay Gillispie, Birmingham-Southern
Russ Marr, Sewanee
Perry Robinson, Oglethorpe
Second Team All-SAA
Luka Avaliani, Sewanee
Braxton Benham, Berry
Brody Davis, Birmingham-Southern
Riley Mastin, Centre
Cade Stinnett, Centre
Honorable Mention
Tre Corrigan, Sewanee
Riley Costas, Berry
Tyler Diethloff, Hendrix
Malachi Dooley, Oglethorpe
Chase Ellis, Berry
Uba Ezigbo, Oglethorpe
Kaleb Green, Birmingham-Southern
Landen Hamilton, Centre
Trevor Lombard, Rhodes
Cameron Lumar, Millsaps
Chez Moore, Centre
Darvis Rasberry Jr., Hendrix
All-Time SAA Men's Basketball Players/Coach of the Year
|
Player of the Year |
Defensive Player of the Year |
Rookie of the Year |
Coach of the Year |
| 2023-2024 |
Blake Campbell, Berry |
Braxton Benham, Berry |
Riley Mastin, Centre |
Chris Graves, BSC |
| 2022-2023 |
Chase Ellis, Berry |
Braxton Benham, Berry |
Cade Stinnett, Centre |
Mick Hedgepeth, Berry |
| 2021-2022 |
Seth Stanley, Hendrix |
Riley Costas, Berry |
Russ Marr, Sewanee |
Trevor Lydic, Berry |
| 2020-2021 |
Dimetri Chambers, Oglethorpe |
Micah Johnson, Berry |
Michael Johnson, Berry |
Mitch Cole, Berry |
| 2019-2020 |
Jacob Bates, Centre |
Justin Van Pelt, Millsaps |
Justin Day, Oglethorpe |
Thad McCracken, Hendrix |
| 2018-2019 |
Elijah Hirsh, Berry |
Tom Inungu, Oglethorpe |
Seth Stanley, Hendrix |
Greg Mason, Centre |
| 2017-2018 |
Adrian Thomas, Sewanee |
Cam Caldwell, Sewanee |
Luke Smith, Sewanee |
Greg Mason, Centre |
| 2016-2017 |
Hank Aldous, Hendrix |
Tyler Gee, Rhodes |
Perry Ayers, Centre |
Mike DeGeorge, Rhodes |
| 2015-2016 |
Alex Avery, BSC |
Tyler Wesley, Centre |
Cody Jones, Sewanee |
Chris Graves, BSC |
| 2014-2015 |
Larry Thomas, BSC |
Tyler Wesley, Centre |
Chris Lawrence, Oglethorpe |
Bubba Smith, Sewanee |
| 2013-2014 |
Larry Thomas, BSC |
Tyler Wesley, Centre |
Owen Jacobs, Berry |
Greg Mason, Centre |
| 2012-2013 |
Andrew Galow, Rhodes |
Blaise White, BSC |
Blake Scinta, Centre |
Bubba Smith, Sewanee |