Two WAC student-athletes - Grand Canyon's
Joshua Braun and NM State's
Pascal Siakam - are among the 31 players named to the mid-season watch list for the Lou Henson Award, given annually to the top Division I Mid-Major player.
Braun currently leads the WAC in free throw percentage (87.2) and three-point percentage (48.1), ranks second in scoring (15.5), fourth in three-pointers per game (2.44) and ninth in field goal percentage (46.9).
Siakam is currently tied for the lead nationally with 14 double-doubles on the season. He also ranks first in field goals made (148), fourth in total points (374) and total rebounds (186), sixth in rebounds per game (11.6) and eighth in points per game (23.4). He has been named WAC Player of the Week four times this season.
The award is named in honor of former NM State coach Lou Henson, who coached 41 years. When he left the game in 2005, he was sixth all-time in career Division I wins with 779. He is the winningest coach at both Illinois and NM State and is one of only 12 coaches in the history of the game to take two schools to the Final Four.
The award is voted on by a 30-member panel, consisting of five current Division I head coaches, five retired head coaches, 10 current athletic directors and/or conference administrators, five members of the national media and five collegeinsider.com staff members.
Eligible players must be in the following conferences or leagues: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast and Western Athletic.
The recipient of the 2016 award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Award Presentation on April 1 in Houston, site of the men's Division I National Championship.
The complete watch list is below.
| Name |
Ht. |
Yr. |
School |
| Paris Bass |
6-8 |
So. |
Detroit |
| Anthony Beane |
6-2 |
Sr. |
Southern Illinois |
| Joel Bolomboy |
6-9 |
Sr. |
Weber State |
| Nathan Boothe |
6-9 |
Sr. |
Toledo |
| Evans Bradds |
6-7 |
Jr. |
Belmont |
| Josh Braun |
6-4 |
So. |
Grand Canyon |
| Martin Breunig |
6-8 |
Sr. |
Montana |
| John Brown |
6-8 |
Sr. |
High Point |
| Obi Emegano |
6-3 |
Jr. |
Oral Roberts |
| A.J. English |
6-4 |
Sr. |
Iona |
| Quincy Ford |
6-8 |
Sr. |
Northeastern |
| Juan'ya Green |
6-2 |
Sr. |
Hofstra |
| Kevin Hervey |
6-8 |
Jr. |
UT Arlington |
| Peter Hooley |
6-4 |
Sr. |
Albany |
| Casey Jones |
6-5 |
Sr. |
Chattanooga |
| Maodo Lo |
6-3 |
Sr. |
Columbia |
| Shawn Long |
6-9 |
Sr. |
UL-Lafayette |
| Egidijus Mockevicius |
6-10 |
Sr. |
Evansville |
| Dallas Moore |
6-1 |
Jr. |
North Florida |
| Mamadou Ndiaye |
7-6 |
Jr. |
UC Irvine |
| Deondre Parks |
6-1 |
Sr. |
South Dakota State |
| Alec Peters |
6-9 |
Jr. |
Valparaiso |
| Justin Robinson |
5-8 |
Jr. |
Monmouth |
| Justin Sears |
6-8 |
Sr. |
Yale |
| Pascal Siakam |
6-9 |
So. |
NM State |
| Rashawn Thomas |
6-8 |
Jr. |
Texas A&M Corpus Christi |
| Matt Tiby |
6-8 |
Sr. |
Milwaukee |
| Fred VanFleet |
6-0 |
Sr. |
Wichita State |
| Thomas Walkup |
6-4 |
Sr. |
Stephen. F. Austin |
| Jameel Warney |
6-8 |
Sr. |
Stony Brook |
| Wes Washpun |
6-1 |
Sr. |
Northern Iowa |