HIGH POINT, N.C. – High Point University men’s basketball redshirt-senior forward has been named the preseason Big South Player of the Year, the league office announced Monday.
In addition, senior guard Adam Weary has been selected to the preseason All-Big South second team.
For Brown, it marks the third-consecutive season the Jacksonville, Fla., native has been named the Big South preseason Player of the Year. Brown is one of four HPU student-athletes to have earned the honor in program history. The quartet includes Brown, Danny Gathings, Arizona Reid and Nick Barbour.
Brown enters the 2015-16 season as the nation’s No. 3 returning scorer (1,680 career points) and the NCAA Div. I active leader in field goals made (646). He is just one of two returning players nationally to have posted 1,500 points and 600 rebounds in a career.
He is the only mid-major player on the Julius Erving Award watch list. The honor is given to the top small forward in the nation. In addition, Brown has been named to the College Sports Madness preseason all-mid major team and is ranked as the No. 64 player in the nation in the CBSSports.com “Top 100” player rankings.
A 2014 AP All-America selection and the 2014 Big South Player of the Year, Brown was named to the NABC All-District Team in 2015 for the second-straight season – one of just 22 players nationally to accomplish the feat. He was named a finalist for the 2015 Lou Henson Award, given to the nation’s top mid-major player.
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-of-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 is one of just four Big South players all time to have posted 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 100 blocks, 100 steals and 100 assists in a career.
Weary led the Panthers in assists (85) in 2014-15 while posting season averages of 9.3 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. He ranked third on the team in in field goal percentage (.467) and was second on HPU in scoring (10.8 ppg) and assists (2.3 apg) in Big South play.
Weary posted 10+ points in 10-of-18 league games and in Big South play, he ranked eighth in the conference in free throw percentage (.790) and 22nd in scoring. He was 10th in the league in assists/game (2.7) in overall games and led HPU in dimes in 14 contests.
A 2013 Big South All-Freshman Team selection, Weary currently ranks 10th on the all-time HPU assists list (203).
Big South Preseason All-Conference Teams
First Team
John Brown, High Point (Preseason Player of the Year)
Elijah Wilson, Coastal Carolina
DeSean Murray, Presbyterian
Tyrell Nelson, Gardner-Webb
Keon Johnson, Winthrop
Second Team
Lotanna Nwogbo, Longwood
Badou Diagne, Coastal Carolina
Adam Weary, High Point
Xavier Cooks, Winthrop
D.J. Mason, Campbell
About the Panthers: The High Point University men’s basketball team is coming off a record-breaking 2014-15 season that saw the Panthers set new Div. I program records for wins (23), Big South wins (13), road wins (9) and Big South road wins (6). HPU advanced to the postseason for the third-straight year and earned its first ever postseason win with a victory over UMES in the CIT. HPU is the winningest Big South program over the past three years and is one of just six schools nationally to have won a regular season conference title in each of the past three campaigns (Gonzaga, Kansas, Stephen F. Austin, Davidson, Harvard).