American Athletic Conference Announces Men’s Basketball Individual Award Winners
Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Sportsmanship Award, Sixth Man of the Year Announced
ORLANDO, Fla. - The American Athletic Conference announced four individual award winners for men’s basketball on Wednesday. Cincinnati sophomore Gary Clark earned American Defensive Player of the Year honors while East Carolina senior Prince Williams was chosen as the American’s Most Improved Player. SMU redshirt senior Markus Kennedy was selected as the American Sixth Man of the Year while USF sophomore Ruben Guerreo earned the league’s Sportsmanship Award. The awards were voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
A starter in all 65 games of his collegiate career to date, Clark is top five in the American Athletic Conference in offensive rebounds (second at 3.5), rebounds (second at 8.9) and blocks (fifth at 1.5). He has seven double-doubles this season and has led Cincinnati in rebounding in 16 games, pulling down as many as 14 boards four times. Clark, who also earned Second-Team All-Conference honors, was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team last year. He leads a Cincinnati defense that ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense and 11th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense.
Williams increased his average in every statistical category in 2015-16. The guard played nearly 28 minutes per game this season; up from 10.1 minutes last year, and averaged 10.3 points and 3.1 rebounds during regular season play. Williams started 30 of 31 games for the Pirates and is East Carolina’s fourth leading scorer. He averaged 1.6 points and 1.0 rebounds per game last season.
Kennedy was named the American Sixth Man of the Year for the second consecutive season. The senior averaged 9.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game during conference play. Kennedy shot nearly 50-percent from the field (69-of-139) in 18 conference games. He came off the bench for 16 of the 18 games.
Guerreo was recognized by the league coaches for his sportsmanship, positive demeanor, commitment to player safety and public support of both his teammates and opponents. The center shot a team-high 59.6-percent from the field for the Bulls this season. Guerreo finished with seven blocks in USF’s win over Memphis on Feb. 20. It was the most blocks by a USF player since Kentrell Gransberry had seven against UAB on Dec. 8, 2007.
The American Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year will be announced at a press conference on Thursday, March 10 at the Amway Center at 12:30 p.m. ET. The event will be streamed live atwww.theamerican.org/watch.
Defensive Player of the Year
Gary Clark, F, Cincinnati
Most Improved Player
Prince Williams, G, East Carolina
Sixth Man of the Year
Markus Kennedy, F, SMU
Sportsmanship Award
Ruben Guerrero, C, USF
Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, Sportsmanship Award, Sixth Man of the Year Announced
ORLANDO, Fla. - The American Athletic Conference announced four individual award winners for men’s basketball on Wednesday. Cincinnati sophomore Gary Clark earned American Defensive Player of the Year honors while East Carolina senior Prince Williams was chosen as the American’s Most Improved Player. SMU redshirt senior Markus Kennedy was selected as the American Sixth Man of the Year while USF sophomore Ruben Guerreo earned the league’s Sportsmanship Award. The awards were voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
A starter in all 65 games of his collegiate career to date, Clark is top five in the American Athletic Conference in offensive rebounds (second at 3.5), rebounds (second at 8.9) and blocks (fifth at 1.5). He has seven double-doubles this season and has led Cincinnati in rebounding in 16 games, pulling down as many as 14 boards four times. Clark, who also earned Second-Team All-Conference honors, was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Team last year. He leads a Cincinnati defense that ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense and 11th in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense.
Williams increased his average in every statistical category in 2015-16. The guard played nearly 28 minutes per game this season; up from 10.1 minutes last year, and averaged 10.3 points and 3.1 rebounds during regular season play. Williams started 30 of 31 games for the Pirates and is East Carolina’s fourth leading scorer. He averaged 1.6 points and 1.0 rebounds per game last season.
Kennedy was named the American Sixth Man of the Year for the second consecutive season. The senior averaged 9.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game during conference play. Kennedy shot nearly 50-percent from the field (69-of-139) in 18 conference games. He came off the bench for 16 of the 18 games.
Guerreo was recognized by the league coaches for his sportsmanship, positive demeanor, commitment to player safety and public support of both his teammates and opponents. The center shot a team-high 59.6-percent from the field for the Bulls this season. Guerreo finished with seven blocks in USF’s win over Memphis on Feb. 20. It was the most blocks by a USF player since Kentrell Gransberry had seven against UAB on Dec. 8, 2007.
The American Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Coach of the Year will be announced at a press conference on Thursday, March 10 at the Amway Center at 12:30 p.m. ET. The event will be streamed live atwww.theamerican.org/watch.
Defensive Player of the Year
Gary Clark, F, Cincinnati
Most Improved Player
Prince Williams, G, East Carolina
Sixth Man of the Year
Markus Kennedy, F, SMU
Sportsmanship Award
Ruben Guerrero, C, USF
