HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point University redshirt-junior forward John Brown has been named a finalist for the Lou Henson Award, an honor given annually to the top mid-major player in college basketball.
As a finalist for the award, Brown is recognized as a 2015 Lou Henson All-American. The Lou Henson Award recipient will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Banquet on April 3 in Indianapolis, site of the 2015 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship.
After being named to the preseason and midseason watch lists for the Henson Award, Brown has capped a phenomenal season in strong fashion to earn a spot as a finalist. Ranked No. 1 in the Big South in Ken Pomeroy’s offensive ratings system, Brown proved to be one of the most consistent scorers in the nation in 2014-15.
The Jacksonville, Fla., native posted at least 10 points in 30-33 games and at least 20 points in 15 contests. He ranked ninth in the country in field goals made (242) in 2014-15 and was 26th nationally in scoring (19.3 ppg) and 32nd in field goal percentage (.550). He averaged 26.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and shot 57.4 percent in High Point’s three postseason contests.
In a display of his balanced game on both ends of the floor, Brown also ranked in the top-50 nationally in offensive rebounds/game and was sixth in the Big South in blocks (1.0/game) and eighth in free throw percentage (.756). He led the Panthers in 10 statistical categories, including scoring, field goal percentage, field goals and free throws made, blocks and steals.
Brown was named to the All-Big South First Team after leading the Panthers to their third-consecutive Big South regular season title. The redshirt-junior has helped High Point become one of just six schools nationally to win three-straight regular season league titles, joining Gonzaga, Kansas, Davidson, Stephen F. Austin and Harvard.
Brown and the Panthers took the HPU program to new heights in 2014-15. High Point set new Div. I school records this season in wins (23), road wins (9) and Big South road wins (6) while reaching the post-season for a school-record third straight season. HPU’s win over UMES in the first round of the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournament marked the first Div. I postseason victory in school history.
The Panthers started the season 17-5 for the first time since 1995-96 and began Big South play 8-2 for the first time in program history.
Brown now becomes a two-time All-American after earning AP All-America accolades in 2014. In 2013-14, Brown also took home Big South Player of the Year, NABC All-District first team and NCCSIA All-State accolades, while becoming the first player in Big South history to score 1,000 points before the end of his sophomore season.
He is one of just four players in Big South history to post at least 1,600 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocks, 100 assists and 100 steals in a career. He currently ranks sixth all-time at High Point with 1,680 career points (third in Div. I history) and is fifth all-time in field goals made (646). Brown also is second all-time in school history in blocks (118), fourth in free throws made (388), fourth in games started (88) and fifth in steals (134).
One of the most electric players in the nation, Brown has appeared on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top-10 plays 10 times in his career, and his Feb. 6 dunk at Coastal Carolina this season went viral, reaching more than 2.5 million Twitter users. He’s received national recognition this season from ESPN’s Jay Bilas, Dana O’Neil and Jeff Goodman, as well as NBCSports.com’s Rob Dauster and CBSSports.com’s Matt Norlander. In February, Brown was featured in an in-depth profile by Sports Illustrated’s Luke Winn.
About The Lou Henson Award
The award is named in honor of Lou Henson who retired after a spectacular coaching career that lasted 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 New Mexico State. He is one of only 12 coaches in the history of the game to take two schools to the Final Four.
2014-15 Lou Henson All-Americans
Lawrence Alexander, North Dakota State
D.J. Balentine, Evansville
John Brown, High Point University
Julius Brown, Toledo
Jalen Cannon, St. Francis Brooklyn
Karl Cochran, Wofford
AJ English, Iona
Kahlil Felder, Oakland
Chris Fowler, Central Michigan
Ty Greene, USC Upstate
Tyler Harvey, Eastern Washington
Corey Hawkins, UC Davis
Tyler Haws, BYU
R.J. Hunter, Georgia State
John Jordan, Texas A&M Corpus Christi
David Laury, Iona
Shawn Long, UL-Lafayette
Mikh McKinney, Sacramento State
Justin Moss, Buffalo
Mike Myers, UMES
Saah Nimley, Charleston Southern
Wesley Saunders, Harvard
Justin Sears, Yale
Keifer Sykes, Green Bay
Marcus Thornton, William & Mary
Corey Walden, Eastern Kentucky
Brad Waldow, Saint Mary’s
Thomas Walkup, Stephen F. Austin
Jameel Warney, Stony Brook
Jalan West, Northwestern State
Alan Williams, UC Santa Barbara