OKLAHOMA CITY – After leading Science & Arts to the Sooner Athletic Conference regular-season title, senior guard Cameron Hines was tabbed as the Sooner Athletic Conference men's basketball player of the year, an honor voted upon by the league’s 12 head coaches.

Alongside Hines, Science & Arts head coach Chris Francis was also selected as the John Hudson coach of the year. Texas Wesleyan’s Kristian Lafayette was named the newcomer of the year, Vernon Johnson of North Texas Dallas earned the freshman of the year award and Wayland Baptist’s Jibrael Washington garnered the defensive player of the year accolade.

Rounding out the major award winners was Mid-America Christian’s Isaiah Hammons earning the sixth man of the year while Southwestern Assemblies of God’s Isaiah Boling was tabbed with the sportsmanship award. The league awarded sixth man, all-defensive and all-freshman accolades for the first time.

A 5-10 guard from Fort Cobb, Okla., Hines led a high octane Drovers team that heading into the SAC Tournament as the second-most prolific offense in the league, averaging 81.1 points per game. Hines was the fourth-best scorer in the conference this season, averaging 17.8 ppg while tallying the fifth-highest three-point percentage in the conference at 40.5 after knocking down 77-of-190 attempts. Hines boasted the best free throw clip in the conference, burying 76-of-85 for an 89.4 percent clip.

Hines helped the Drovers lock up the SAC title with a game-high 28 points on 11-of-19 shooting, including going 5-for-9 from beyond the arc in an 82-61 home win over John Brown on Feb. 17.

In his first season with the Rams, Lafayette posed a tough matchup for defenses opposing defenses. The 6-10 forward helped propel Texas Wesleyan to a 19-11 regular season record after ranking third on the team in scoring at 11.6 ppg to go with a 45.7 percent shooting clip and an 84.1 percent rate from the free throw line. The Detroit native led the SAC in rebounding average at 10.8 per game to go with the second-highest total boards at 259.

In their first year as a full-time member of the SAC, Johnson was the offensive leader for North Texas Dallas. The 6-3 guard from DeSoto, Texas averaged 12.1 ppg on the 12th highest field-goal percentage in the league at 51.4 percent. Johnson also efficiently knocked down 89-for-119 (74.8 percent) from the charity stripe and was the team’s top rebounder at 6.9 rpg.

Guiding a Wayland Baptist team that ranks ninth in the NAIA in points allowed (63.3 ppg) and opponent field goal percentage (39.2), Washington was a dominant force in the interior for the Pioneers. The 6-8 forward from Waco, Texas not only led the SAC in blocked shots, but ranks second in the NAIA with 89 rejections at a 3.4 blocks per game clip. Washington also finished on the team in rebounding with 142 boards at 5.5 rpg.

Providing a major spark for the Evangels off the bench, Hammons led MACU both offensively and defensively, averaging 15.1 ppg on 44.8 percent shooting. The Oklahoma City native is team’s leading rebounder at 183 (6.1 rpg), ranks second on the team in assists with 97 and is turning in a team-high 61 steals to lead the SAC. The 6-5 forward also leads the conference in free throw makes and attempts, going 154-of-203 (75.9 percent) from the foul line.

Earning the sportsmanship for the first time in his career, Boling was one of the offensive leaders for SAGU during the 2021-22 campaign. The 6-3 senior guard from Van Alstyne, Texas was the team’s third-most prolific scorer at 10.6 ppg while knocking down a team-high 51-for-141 (36.2 percent) from the three-point arc and dishing out the third-most assists on the squad with 56.

In his seventh season at the helm of the Drovers program, Francis was selected as the John Hudson coach of the year after leading USAO to its first SAC crown since the 2000-01 season. Science & Arts closed out the regular season with a 19-3 conference record and went 24-5 overall while locking up the No. 1 seed in the SAC Tournament. Last season, Francis guided the Drovers to their first SAC Tournament championship since 2017, picking a 69-50 win over Mid-America Christian inside the Drover Fieldhouse on March 3, 2021.

2021-22 All-Sooner Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Teams and Individual Honors
Player of the Year: Cameron Hines, Sr., G, Science & Arts
Newcomer of the Year: Kristian Lafayette, Jr., F, Texas Wesleyan
Freshman of the Year: Vernon Johnson, Fr., G, North Texas Dallas
Defensive Player of the Year: Jibrael Washington, Sr., C, Wayland Baptist
Sixth Man of the Year: Isaiah Hammons, Sr., F, Mid-America Christian
John Hudson Coach of the Year: Chris Francis, Science & Arts
Sportsmanship Award: Isaiah Boling, Sr., G, SW Assemblies of God
FIRST TEAM
G	Rashaun Coleman	Oklahoma City	Sr.	Houston
F	Stephon Hall	Science & Arts	Sr.	Oklahoma City
G	Cameron Hines	Science & Arts	Sr.	Fort Cobb, Okla.
G	Joshua Kashila	SW Assemblies of God	Jr.	Angola, Luanda
F	Nykolas Mason	SW Assemblies of God	Sr.	Frisco, Texas
SECOND TEAM
F	Isaiah Hammons	Mid-America Christian	Sr.	Oklahoma City
G	Luke Harper	John Brown	Sr.	Plano, Texas
C	Kristian Lafayette	Texas Wesleyan	Jr.	Detroit
G	R.J. Mason	Wayland Baptist	Jr.	DeSoto, Texas
G	Jalen Thomas	Panhandle State	So.	Amarillo, Texas
THIRD TEAM
G	Tony Dorsey	Mid-America Christian	Sr.	Shreveport, La.
F	Luiz Machado	Southwestern Christian	Jr.	Queens, N.Y.
G	Isaiah Rivera	Central Christian	Jr.	San Antonio
G	Peyton Sallee	Texas Wesleyan	Jr.	Fort Worth, Texas
C	Romario Spence	Oklahoma City	Sr.	Luton, England

 
HONORABLE MENTION
Isaiah Boling, SW Assemblies of God
Vydal Bradford, Texas Wesleyan
Densier Carnes, John Brown
Rayquan Elliott, Panhandle State
Kori Guest, Oklahoma City
Vernon Johnson, North Texas Dallas
Ronald Moore, Southwestern Christian
Rory Pantophlet, Science & Arts
Ira Perrier, John Brown
Naythan Shaw-Clark, Langston
Thad Udoh, Wayland Baptist
Jibrael Washington, Wayland Baptist
 
ALL-FRESHMAN
Tarrence Gaines, Mid-America Christian
Vernon Johnson, North Texas Dallas
Latrell Maitland, John Brown
Dylan McDougal, Wayland Baptist
Quentin Woodson, Mid-America Christian
 
ALL-DEFENSIVE
Nathan Bailey, SW Assemblies of God
Tony Dorsey, Mid-America Christian
Kristian Lafayette, Texas Wesleyan
Ira Perrier, John Brown
Jibrael Washington, Wayland Baptist