OKLAHOMA CITY — After leading Nelson to the conference regular season title, CJ Hall has been named the 2025 Sooner Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, as announced by the conference office Wednesday afternoon. The award is voted on by the league’s 13 head coaches.
Delton Deal of Nelson was voted as this season’s Coach of the Year after leading the Lions to the conference regular season championship.
Tarrence Gaines of Mid-America Christian was named the Defensive Player of the Year, while Julian Perez of Wayland Baptist garnered the league’s Freshman of the Year honor, with Josiah Fulcher of Mid-America Christian earning the Newcomer of the Year award. Texas Wesleyan’s Montez Young grabbed the conference Sixth Men of the Year honor, and Malachi Farr of Central Christian earned the league’s Sportsmanship Award.
Hall led the way for the Lions as he was second in the conference in scoring with 19.3 points per game while shooting 43 percent from the field this season. Hall also handed out 3.6 assists per game and had 1.7 steals per contest.
Gaines was a key part of the Evangels’ defense that only allowed 67 points per game. Gaines grabbed 131 defensive rebounds on the year with 31 steals while averaging 10.8 points per contest.
Perez played in 27 games this season and averaged 5.4 points per game while handing out 45 assists on the year.
Fulcher finished the season eighth in the league in scoring with 15.9 points per game and grabbed 5.6 rebounds per contest. Fulcher also was sixth in the league with a field goal percentage of 48 percent.
Young was outstanding in coming off the bench for the Rams as he was second on the team in scoring with 14 points per game and averaged eight rebounds per contest.
Farr earned the conference Sportsmanship Award from the coaches as he was a great example of how to conduct himself on the court during the season.
Deal led the Lions to an overall record of 23-8 and a conference mark of 19-5 to win the SAC regular-season title. Nelson entered the final NAIA Coaches Poll as the 24th ranked team after receiving votes for the better part of the last part of the season.
2024-25 Sooner Athletic Men's Basketball Awards
Coach of the Year: Delton Deal, Nelson
Player of the Year: CJ Hall, Nelson
Defensive Player of the Year: Tarrence Gaines, Mid-America Christian
Freshman of the Year: Julian Perez, Wayland Baptist
Newcomer of the Year: Josiah Fulcher, Mid-America Christian
Sixth Man of the Year: Montez Young, Texas Wesleyan
Sportsmanship Award: Malachi Farr, Central Christian
First Team All-SAC
Quenton Coleman, Wayland Baptist
Josiah Fulcher, Mid-America Christian
CJ Hall, Nelson
Drew Miller, John Brown
Bryce Monroe, Langston
Chris Witten, Central Christian
Second Team All-SAC
Amaree Brown, Oklahoma Panhandle State
Micah Clark, Nelson
Gregory Crawford, North Texas at Dallas
Trey Sinegal, Texas Wesleyan
Josh Smith, Langston
Juwan White, Mid-America Christian
Third Team All-SAC
JJ Boling, Nelson
Jevarrick Butler, Central Christian
Avery Jackson, Oklahoma City
Trae Oetting, John Brown
Garrett Snyder, College of the Ozarks
Montez Young Jr., Texas Wesleyan
Honorable Mention
Mohand Ammad, Science & Arts
Justin Collins, Nelson
Andrew Dalton, College of the Ozarks
Abdulh Diaby, Oklahoma Panhandle State
Deondre Dunn, Southwestern Christian
Tarrence Gaines, Mid-America Christian
Alerick Hall, Nelson
Vernon Johnson, North Texas at Dallas
Kabine Kaba, Wayland Baptist
Elijah Lawrence, John Brown
Brett Leach, Wayland Baptist
Magok Manyang, Mid-America Christian
Keeshawn Mason, Mid-America Christian
Mario McKinney, Langston
Andre Shelby, Central Christian
Michal Wooldridge, Southwestern Christian
All-Freshman Team
Julian Perez, Wayland Baptist
Carter Carbonell, John Brown
Zander Baker, Mid-America Christian
Jack Ullom, John Brown
Kensington Grant-Brown, Oklahoma Panhandle State
All-Defensive Team
Tarrence Gaines, Mid-America Christian
Mario McKinney, Langston
Justin Collins, Nelson
Andre Shelby, Central Christian
Abdulh Diaby, Oklahoma Panhandle State