Lou Henson Award

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.

Lou Henson Award

Awarded for	the nation's top mid-major men's player in NCAA Division I basketball
Country	United States
Presented by	Collegeinsider.com
History
First award	2010
Most recent	Brian Moore Jr., Norfolk State
Website	Official website

Eligible conferences

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]

America East Conference Atlantic Sun Conference Big Sky Conference Big South Conference Big West Conference Coastal Athletic Association Horizon League Ivy League Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Mid-American Conference Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Missouri Valley Conference Northeast Conference Ohio Valley Conference Patriot League Southern Conference Southland Conference Southwestern Athletic Conference Summit League Sun Belt Conference West Coast Conference Western Athletic Conference

Key

Player (X)

Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Lou Henson Award at that point

Winners

Keith Benson, Oakland, 2010

Matthew Dellavedova, Saint Mary's, 2013

Langston Hall, Mercer, 2014

Thomas Walkup, Stephen F. Austin, 2016

Fletcher Magee, Wofford, 2018

Nathan Knight, William & Mary, 2020

Max Abmas, Oral Roberts, 2021

Jordan Brown, Louisiana, 2023

Year	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
2009–10	Keith Benson	Oakland	C	Junior	[3]
2010–11	Matt Howard	Butler	PF	Senior	[4]
2011–12	Kyle O'Quinn	Norfolk State	PF	Senior	[5]
2012–13	Matthew Dellavedova	Saint Mary's	PG	Senior	[6]
2013–14	Langston Hall	Mercer	PG	Senior	[6]
2014–15	Ty Greene	USC Upstate	PG	Senior	[7]
2015–16	Thomas Walkup	Stephen F. Austin	SG	Senior	[8]
2016–17	Justin Robinson	Monmouth	PG	Senior	[9]
2017–18	Clayton Custer	Loyola (Illinois)	PG	Junior	[10]
2018–19	Fletcher Magee	Wofford	SG	Senior	[11]
2019–20	Nathan Knight	William & Mary	PF / C	Senior	[12]
2020–21	Max Abmas	Oral Roberts	G	Sophomore	[13]
2021–22	Malachi Smith	Chattanooga	SG	Junior	[14]
2022–23	Jordan Brown	Louisiana	C	Junior	[15]
2023–24	Trey Townsend	Oakland	SF	Junior	[16]
2024–25	Brian Moore Jr.	Norfolk State	SG	Senior	[17]

Winners by school

School	Winners	Years
Norfolk State	2	2012, 2025
Oakland	2	2010, 2024
Butler	1	2011
Chattanooga	1	2022
Louisiana	1	2023
Loyola (Illinois)	1	2018
Mercer	1	2014
Monmouth	1	2017
Oral Roberts	1	2021
Saint Mary's	1	2013
Stephen F. Austin	1	2016
USC Upstate	1	2015
William & Mary	1	2020
Wofford	1	2019