Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the most outstanding men's basketball player in the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). The award was first given following the conference's first basketball season of 1976–77. Four players have been selected twice (Terry Catledge, Chris Gatling, Chico Fletcher, and R. J. Hunter), while no player has earned a three-time player of the year selection.

Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Awarded for	the most outstanding men's basketball player in the Sun Belt Conference
Country	United States
Presented by	Sun Belt Conference
History
First award	1977
Most recent	Tayton Conerway, Troy

Western Kentucky, which left the SBC for Conference USA in 2014, has the most all-time winners with seven. Among schools remaining in the SBC beyond 2014, South Alabama, the only charter member that has continuously been in the conference, has the most winners with six.

Key

†	Co-Players of the Year
*	Awarded a national player of the year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present)
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Sun Belt Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Cedric Maxwell, Charlotte, 1977

Kenny Gattison (l), Old Dominion, 1986

Ervin Johnson, New Orleans, 1993

Derek Fisher, Little Rock, 1996

Yemi Nicholson, Denver, 2005

Anthony Winchester, Western Kentucky, 2006

Bo McCalebb, New Orleans, 2007

Courtney Lee, Western Kentucky, 2008

Orlando Méndez-Valdez, Western Kentucky, 2009

Solomon Bozeman, Little Rock, 2011

LaRon Dendy, Middle Tennessee, 2012

Augustine Rubit, South Alabama, 2013

R. J. Hunter, Georgia State, 2014 and 2015

Shawn Long, Louisiana, 2016

Kevin Hervey, UT Arlington, 2017

Tookie Brown, Georgia Southern, 2019

Nijal Pearson, Texas State, 2020

DeVante' Jones, Coastal Carolina, 2021

Season	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
1976–77	Cedric Maxwell	Charlotte	PF / C	Senior	[1]
1977–78	Wayne Cooper	New Orleans	C	Senior	[2]
1978–79	Rory White	South Alabama	PF	Sophomore	[3]
1979–80	James Ray	Jacksonville	PF	Senior	[4]
1980–81	Ed Rains	South Alabama	SF	Senior	[1]
1981–82	Oliver Robinson	UAB	SG	Senior	[5]
1982–83†	Charlie Bradley	South Florida	SF	Sophomore	[6]
	Calvin Duncan	VCU	SG	Sophomore	[6]
1983–84	Terry Catledge	South Alabama	PF	Junior	[7]
1984–85	Terry Catledge (2)	South Alabama	PF	Senior	[7]
1985–86	Kenny Gattison	Old Dominion	C	Senior	[8]
1986–87	Tellis Frank	Western Kentucky	PF	Senior	[9]
1987–88	Byron Dinkins	Charlotte	PG	Junior	[10]
1988–89	Jeff Hodge	South Alabama	SG	Senior	[11]
1989–90	Chris Gatling	Old Dominion	PF	Junior	[12]
1990–91	Chris Gatling (2)	Old Dominion	PF	Senior	[12]
1991–92	Ron Ellis	Louisiana Tech	PF	Senior	[13]
1992–93	Ervin Johnson	New Orleans	C	Senior	[14]
1993–94†	Michael Allen	Louisiana	G	Senior	[15]
	Jeff Clifton	Arkansas State	F	Senior	[15]
1994–95	Chris Robinson	Western Kentucky	SG	Junior	[16]
1995–96	Derek Fisher	Little Rock	SG	Senior	[17]
1996–97	Muntrelle Dobbins	Little Rock	PF	Senior	[1]
1997–98	Chico Fletcher	Arkansas State	PG	Sophomore	[18]
1998–99	Chico Fletcher (2)	Arkansas State	PG	Junior	[18]
1999–00	Gerrod Henderson	Louisiana Tech	SG	Sophomore	[19]
2000–01	Chris Marcus	Western Kentucky	C	Junior	[20]
2001–02	Héctor Romero	New Orleans	SF	Junior	[21]
2002–03	James Moore	New Mexico State	F	Junior	[22]
2003–04	Mike Wells	Western Kentucky	SG / PG	Senior	[23]
2004–05	Yemi Nicholson	Denver	C	Junior	[24]
2005–06	Anthony Winchester	Western Kentucky	SG	Senior	[25]
2006–07	Bo McCalebb	New Orleans	PG	Junior	[1]
2007–08	Courtney Lee	Western Kentucky	SG	Senior	[26]
2008–09	Orlando Méndez-Valdez	Western Kentucky	PG	Senior	[27]
2009–10	Tyren Johnson	Louisiana	PF	Senior	[28]
2010–11	Solomon Bozeman	Little Rock	SG	Senior	[29]
2011–12	LaRon Dendy	Middle Tennessee	PF	Senior	[30]
2012–13	Augustine Rubit	South Alabama	PF / C	Junior	[31]
2013–14	R. J. Hunter	Georgia State	SG	Sophomore	[32]
2014–15	R. J. Hunter (2)	Georgia State	SG	Junior	[32]
2015–16	Shawn Long	Louisiana	PF	Senior	[33]
2016–17	Kevin Hervey	UT Arlington	PF	Junior	[34]
2017–18	D'Marcus Simonds	Georgia State	SG	Sophomore	[35]
2018–19	Tookie Brown	Georgia Southern	PG	Senior	[36]
2019–20	Nijal Pearson	Texas State	SG	Senior	[37]
2020–21	DeVante' Jones	Coastal Carolina	SG	Junior	[38]
2021–22	Norchad Omier	Arkansas State	PF	Sophomore	[1]
2022–23	Taevion Kinsey	Marshall	SG	Senior	[39]
2023–24	Terrence Edwards Jr.	James Madison	SG	Senior	[40]
2024–25	Tayton Conerway	Troy	PG	Senior	[41]

Winners by school

School (year joined)	Winners	Years
Western Kentucky (1982)[a]	7	1987, 1995, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009
South Alabama (1976)	6	1979, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1989, 2013
Arkansas State (1991)	4	1994†, 1998, 1999, 2022
New Orleans (1976)[b]	4	1978, 1993, 2002, 2007
Georgia State (1976/2013)[c]	3	2014, 2015, 2018
Little Rock (1991)[d]	3	1996, 1997, 2011
Louisiana (1991)	3	1994†, 2010, 2016
Old Dominion (1982/2022)[e]	3	1986, 1990, 1991
Charlotte (1976)[f]	2	1977, 1988
Louisiana Tech (1991)[g]	2	1992, 2000
Coastal Carolina (2016)	1	2021
Denver (1999)[h]	1	2005
Georgia Southern (2014)	1	2019
Jacksonville (1976)[i]	1	1980
James Madison (2022)	1	2024
Marshall (2022)	1	2023
Middle Tennessee (2001)[j]	1	2012
New Mexico State (2001)[k]	1	2003
South Florida (1976)[l]	1	1983†
Texas State (2013)	1	2020
Troy (2005)	1	2025
UAB (1979)[m]	1	1982
UT Arlington (2013)[n]	1	2017
VCU (1979)[o]	1	1983†
Appalachian State (2014)	0	—
Florida Atlantic (2006)[j]	0	—
FIU (1998)[j]	0	—
Louisiana–Monroe (2001)	0	—
North Texas (2001)[j]	0	—
Southern Miss (2022)	0	—

1. Western Kentucky left for Conference USA (C-USA) in 2014.
2. New Orleans left in 1980 but later rejoined in 1991. They left a second time in 2010, planning to transition to NCAA Division II. The Privateers instead chose to remain in Division I, and joined the Southland Conference in 2013.
3. Georgia State, a charter member of the conference, left in 1981 to become independent. After later having been members of two other conferences, the Panthers rejoined the SBC in 2013.
4. Little Rock left in 2022 for the Ohio Valley Conference.
5. Old Dominion left in 1991 to join the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). After later moving to C-USA, the Monarchs returned to the SBC in 2022.
6. Charlotte left in 1991 for the Metro Conference. It became a charter member of C-USA when the Metro merged with the Great Midwest Conference, and still later moved to the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10), by which time it had adopted "Charlotte" as its athletic identity. The 49ers rejoined C-USA in 2013, and will join the American Athletic Conference (The American) in 2023.
7. Louisiana Tech left in 2001 to join the Western Athletic Conference (WAC), and joined C-USA in 2013.
8. Denver left in 2012 for the WAC, and moved again in 2013 to the Summit League.
9. Jacksonville left in 1998 for the Trans America Athletic Conference, now known as the ASUN Conference.
10. FIU, Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee, and North Texas all joined C-USA in 2013. Florida Atlantic and North Texas will move to The American in 2023.
11. New Mexico State left in 2005 to join the WAC; it will move to C-USA in 2023.
12. South Florida left in 1991 for the Metro Conference. The Bulls are now in The American.
13. UAB left in 1991 for the Great Midwest. The Blazers became charter members of C-USA, and will remain there until joining The American in 2023.
14. UT Arlington left for the Western Athletic Conference in 2022.
15. VCU left in 1991 to join the CAA, and moved from there to the A-10 in 2012.