BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced its 2021-22 All-SWAC Basketball teams and individual award winners on Tuesday morning.
SWAC Announces Women's Basketball Postseason Honors
The Southwestern Athletic Conference announced its 2021-22 All-SWAC Women's Basketball teams and individual award winners on Tuesday morning. The all-conference honors were voted on by the league’s coaches and sports information directors.
Jackson State’s Ameshya Williams-Holliday was named Player of the Year and also claimed Defensive Player of the Year accolades.
Arkansas Pine Bluff’s Zaay Green was tabbed Newcomer of the Year, Alcorn State’s Zy’Nyia White was selected Freshman of the Year, and Jackson State’s Tomekia Reed was voted SWAC Coach of the Year.
Williams-Holliday averaged 20.6 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks per game this past season for JSU. She has tallied 18 double-doubles, scoring a career-high of 33 points with 11 rebounds against Florida A&M, and 26 points with 11 rebounds, three blocks and three steals against Alabama A&M to close league play. She was another key contributor for a Lady Tigers team that was crowned the 2022 SWAC Women's Basketball Regular Season Champions.
Green is a former McDonald's All-American, who has been a dominate force for the Lady Lions this past season. She averaged 17.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists, 2.2 steals, and 0.9 block shots per outing. Green was tabbed Player the Week on Dec. 8th and Impact Player of the Week on Feb. 18th after her triple-double and double-double performance against Alcorn State (26 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and three steals), and Jackson State (19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals).
White leads all SWAC freshman players with an average of 13.3 points, connecting on over 40-percent of her shots from the field. She is currently ranked amongst the Top 10 in the SWAC for freshman with an average of 4.2 rebounds per game. White has tallied 17 steals, tied at 2nd in the Lady Braves program.
Reed has led Jackson State to consecutive SWAC Regular Season Championships while setting a school record in opening conference play with 16 consecutive wins. Jackson State has won 29 consecutive games in SWAC play dating back to last season.
The complete listing of all-conference selections and individual awards winners can be found below.
All-SWAC First Team
Ameshya Williams-Holliday, Jackson State
Zaay Green, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Ayana Emmanuel, Alabama State
Andriana Avent, Texas Southern
Alexus Holt, Grambling State
All-SWAC Second Team
Ataiya Bridges, Texas Southern
Dariauna Lewis, Alabama A&M
Nigeria Jones, Alabama A&M
Diana Rosenthal, Prairie View A&M
Dayzsha Rogan, Jackson State
Player of the Year
Ameshya Williams-Holliday, Jackson State
Defensive Player of the Year
Ameshya Williams-Holliday, Jackson State
Newcomer of the Year
Zaay Green, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Freshman of the Year
Zy’Niya White, Alcorn State
Coach of the Year
Tomekia Reed, Jackson State
SWAC Announces Men's Basketball Postseason Honors
Florida A&M’s M.J. Randolph was named Player of the Year, while Jackson State’s Jayveous McKinnis claimed Defensive Player of the Year recognition.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff Shawn Williams was tabbed Newcomer of the Year, Mississippi Valley State’s Gary Grant was selected Freshman of the Year, and Alcorn State’s Landon Bussie was voted SWAC Coach of the Year.
Randolph impacted the Florida A&M Rattlers in all aspects of the game this past season as he led the SWAC in points per game with 18.8 ppg, while ranking 3rd in field goal percentage, 4th in assists per game, 4th in steals per game, 2nd in defensive rebounds per game, and 4th in rebounds per game. Randolph scored 30+ points three times and 20+ points 14 times while earning SWAC weekly honors five times this season.
McKinnis was a significant contributor for Jackson State leading the team in scoring (12.3 ppg), rebounding (10.2 rpg), and blocks (2.9 bpg) during the 2021-22 campaign. He concluded regular season play leading the league in rebounds per game, blocks per game and field goal percentage. He tallied 20 double-digit scoring games, 15 double-digit rebounding games, and 14 double-doubles this past season.
Williams averaged 16.6 points per game for the Golden Lions ranking 2nd in the league in that category. He ranked 6th in the conference in assists per game (3.4 apg) while connecting on over 40 percent of his shot attempts. Williams also ranked 2nd in three-point field goal percentage and 4th in assist/turnover ratio for the 2021-22 regular season campaign.
Grant ranked 7th in the SWAC in free throws made (90) this past season. He scored in double-digits in 18-of-28 MVSU games played and logged three double-figure rebound games. Grant led MVSU in double-doubles, field-goal percentage, rebounds per game and blocks while averaging 10.4 points per outing.
Bussie led the Alcorn State Braves to a 14-4 overall record in league play this past season. Alcorn State claimed the SWAC Men’s Basketball Regular Season title along with the #1 seed in the upcoming tournament. The regular season title marked Alcorn State’s first championship in men’s basketball in two decades (2001-02).
The complete list all-conference selections and individual awards winners is listed below.
All-SWAC First Team
M.J. Randolph, Florida A&M
Jawaun Daniels, Prairie View A&M
Jayveous McKinnis, Jackson State
Jalen Johnson- Alabama A&M
Shawn Williams- Arkansas-Pine Bluff
All-SWAC Second Team
Joe French, Bethune-Cookman
Tyrone Lyons, Southern
Justin Thomas, Alcorn State
Jayden Saddler, Southern
Cameron Christon, Grambling State
Player of the Year
M.J. Randolph, Florida A&M
Defensive Player of the Year
Jayveous McKinnis, Jackson State
Newcomer of the Year
Shawn Williams, Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Freshman of the Year
Gary Grant, Mississippi Valley State
Coach of the Year
Landon Bussie, Alcorn State