Henson Finalists – DeVries and Sheppard

Editor: The following is part of a press release from louhenson.com.

(Boston, MA) – The finalists for the 2022-23 Lou Henson National Player of the Year award were announced on Thursday. This year’s Henson finalists include two current and one former Missouri Valley player. 

The award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in division I college basketball and honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons.

Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Tucker DeVries and Belmont’s Ben Sheppard are two of the thirty finalists. The Lou Henson finalists finished second and third in the Valley’s scoring race. Both players ranked highly in multiple statistical categories and were All-Valley first teamers. Sheppard was also on the conference’s all-defensive team. 

Former Missouri State player DeMarcus Sharp (Northwestern State) is also a finalist for the Lou Henson Award. 

Henson is the winningest coach in Illinois basketball history with 423 victories. During his 21 seasons (1975-1996), Henson led the Fighting Illini to 16 postseason appearances, including 12 NCAA tournaments and a Final Four appearance in 1989.

Henson, who is also the all-time winningest coach in New Mexico State history with 289 victories, is one of only 11 coaches to take two different schools to the NCAA Final Four. His teams have made 19 NCAA appearances and four NIT appearances.

Players on teams from the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC, West Coast.

The recipient of the 2023 award will be announced in March, in Houston site of the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship.