LMU's Schertz Named League Coach of the Year; McCauley, Henry Receive Major Awards

ROCK HILL, S.C. – The hottest team in college basketball is beginning to add hardware to its already historic season as Lincoln Memorial University sophomore guard Courvoisier McCauley has been named the 2019-20 South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, in addition to redshirt sophomore guard Cameron Henry tabbed SAC Defensive Player of the Year and lead man Josh Schertz selected as SAC Coach of the Year. The announcement of the league's all-conference teams and individual superlatives was made Thursday morning. Redshirt junior guard Devin Whitfield, along with McCauley, earned a spot on the 2019-20 All-SAC First Team, while senior point guard Anthony Brown and Henry were both placed on the All-SAC Second Team. McCauley becomes the fifth Railsplitter to garner SAC Player of the Year accolades following in the footsteps of Desmond Johnson (2010-11), Vincent Bailey (2013-14), Lorenza Ross (2014-15) and Emanuel Terry (2017-18). Just the league's third SAC Defensive Player of the Year award, Henry becomes the second LMU player to earn the distinction after Terry was named 2017-18 defensive player of the year. Schertz, who was picked as SAC Coach of the Year for five consecutive seasons from 2013-14 to 2017-18, gathers his seventh conference coach of the year plaudit in the last 10 seasons. McCauley has been nothing shy of sensational throughout his sophomore campaign, averaging 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting an astounding 44.7 percent from three-point land. Second in the 12-team SAC in scoring, McCauley ranks 12th nationally with 98 made threes this season and is the 23rd-most efficient three-point shooter in the land. The Indianapolis, Indiana (Manuel HS), native is averaging 3.2 threes a game, which is 35th in the nation, and has connected on four or more treys on 12 different occasions. Leading the team in rebounding with an 8.0 average, Henry is averaging 13.9 points and 3.7 assists in 29.5 minutes per game. The Chesterfield, Virginia, (Lloyd C. Bird HS), native has been a triple-double threat seemingly every night and is one of LMU's most elite defenders ranked 15th in the country in steals with 64 on the season. Henry's 2.1 steals per game lead the conference and are 31st nationally, while his 7.0 defensive rebounds per game are 21st-most in all of NCAA Division II basketball. The 6-foot-6 swingman has posted a team-high eight double-doubles already in 2019-20 and reached double-figure scoring in 26 contests. Of those who meet the NCAA's statistical minimums (five made per game), Whitfield leads the SAC and is among the top 100 players in Division II with a 53.1 percent shooting mark. He also is one of the top free-throw shooters in the league at 83.2 percent and is ranked in the top 30 in the nation in three-point shooting (44%). Whitfield's 2.97 threes per game are among the top 50 players nationally as his 92 total treys on the season are 33rd-most. The Lipscomb, Alabama (McAdory HS), native has knocked down four ore more threes on 13 different occasions this season. After transferring to LMU from fellow Division II Trevecca Nazarene in Nashville, Whitfield needed just one redshirt season before fitting comfortably within coach Schertz' offensive system. Scoring a then a season-best 31 points in a 113-76 road rout of Wingate, Whitfield notched his 1,000th career point in only 58 collegiate games played. The 6-foot-5 wingman is the Railsplitters' second-leading scorer (19.1 PPG) and has already amassed 591 points in 2019-20. Twice named SAC Player of the Week, Whitfield has turned in a team-leading five 30-point games, owns a team-best 18 20-point outings and has scored in double figures all but seven times. One of the best point guards in the nation, Brown has been remarkable in his final collegiate season as LMU's floor general. His 3.41 assist/turnover ratio ranks 10th nationally while his 5.6 assists per game lead the conference and are the 27th-most in all of Division II hoops. Brown leads the SAC and is 21st in the country with 167 total assists while averaging 12.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game. The Clermont, Florida (Lake Minneola HS), native and Indian River State Community College transfer is shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and 78 percent at the free-throw line. Brown recorded only the second triple-double in school history on Feb. 15 in a 108-67 home win over Newberry by scoring 10 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out a career-high 13 assists. He has scored 20 points or more five times and reached double-figure scoring in 19 games. A Bevo Francis Award Top 100 watch list member, Brown has tallied double-digit assists in three contests this season. Recently named Division II Bulletin/SNA Sports February Coach of the Month and HoopDirt.com NCAA Division II Coach of the Week, Schertz guided the Railsplitters to an unblemished SAC season for the third time in five years as LMU went a perfect 22-0. Under Schertz' leadership, the Railsplitters won their eighth SAC regular season title since 2010-11 on Feb. 12 with a 94-76 victory at UVA Wise. Schertz-led LMU has the Railsplitters on the longest winning among all levels of college basketball with a program and SAC-record 30-straight victories. Sitting at 30-1, LMU has gone unscathed in 2020 (18-0) and is 17-0 inside Tex Turner Arena. The Railsplitters own 12 conference championships, including four SAC Tournament crowns, over the last 10 seasons and are the only program in Division II to have reached 30 wins in five of the last six years. Furthermore, LMU is one of only four Division II basketball programs to have posted 20 wins or more for 11-straight seasons as the Railsplitters have made it to the 25-win mark in nine of the last 10 years.