CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Rashawn Thomas was named Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year and earned First Team All-Southland honors, while Hameed Ali garnered Third Team All-Southland and All-Defensive Team accolades, the league announced Monday.
RELATED: Southland Release | Tournament Central | Thomas Feature | Ali Feature
Thomas is the first Islander to ever be named the Defensive Player of the Year in the conference, and in just its fourth year of existence, the pair are the first A&M-Corpus Christi players to be recognized on the All-Defensive Team.
The Islanders put one of their own on the First Team for the third straight year and Thomas's First Team nod is the seventh all-time for the Blue and Green. Thomas and Ali are the fourth Islander duo to earn All-Southland honors in the same season.
Stephen F. Austin's Thomas Walkup was named the league's Player of the Year for the second year in a row, while Lumberjacks coach Brad Underwood collected Coach of the Year accolades for the third straight season. Abilene Christian's Jaylen Franklin (Freshman) and Central Arkansas's Derreck Brooks (Newcomer) also picked up individual awards.
Thomas was joined on the All-Southland First Team by Walkup, Northwestern State's Zeek Woodley, HBU's Anthony Odunsi and Jordan Howard of Central Arkansas. It's the second straight year Thomas has been honored by the league, picking up Second Team honors last year as a sophomore.
Thomas has had an impressive junior campaign, as he's fifth in the league in scoring at 16.9 points per game, leads the Southland in rebounding at 8.1 boards per game, and ranks second in blocks at 2.4 per contest.
He was named Southland Conference Player of the Week five times during the regular season. No other player earned the honor more than twice. Thomas's 73 blocks are the most ever in a single season by an Islander, topping the previous best of just 57.
The Oklahoma City native eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau earlier this season and now ranks ninth all-time at A&M-Corpus Christi with 1,227 career points. In just three seasons, he's also fifth all-time in rebounds (634) and second in blocked shots (146).
After missing all of last season due to injury, Ali has stepped up for the Islanders as a fifth year senior. The point guard leads the league and ranks second in the entire nation in steals per game with 2.8 per contest. He is the all-time leader in program history with 190 career steals.
He also ranks second in the league with 5.5 assists per game and a 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. Ali is also third all-time in Islanders history with 353 career assists.
COUNTDOWN TO KATY
The Islanders are heading back to Katy for the Southland Conference Tournament. A&M-Corpus Christi has earned the second seed and will play in the semifinals on Friday, March 11 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale now by calling (361) 825-BALL or CLICKING HERE.
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