The Northern Kentucky men's basketball program received multiple honors to end the regular season as the Horizon League announced its 2022-23 All-League awards on Monday afternoon.
Trevon Faulkner was named the Sixth Man of the Year, Marques Warrick earned All-League Second Team honors and Sam Vinson picked up both All-League Third team and All-Defensive team selections.
NKU will host Oakland at 7 p.m. Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament. NKU, 19-12 overall, tied for second place in the league standings at 14-6 but lost tiebreakers.
NKU and Oakland split the season series. NKU won 78-69 on the road last Saturday, rallying from a nine-point deficit at halftime and outscoring the Golden Grizzlies 49-31 in the second half. Oakland won at Truist Arena Jan. 6 behind late-game heroics from first-team all-league senior guard Jalen Moore, who had 27 against the Norse last Saturday.
Trevon Faulkner
Over 31 games, with eight starts, the Mercer County High School graduate and former Kentucky Mr. Basketball. averaged 8.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.0 steals in 25.3 minutes of action per contest. Faulkner finished third on the team in scoring (269 points) and fourth in rebounds (89). He was also fifth in both steals (32) and assists (28). The fifth-year guard also etched his name all over the NKU record book as Faulkner is currently ranked eighth all-time in scoring with 1,601 career points, 10th in career field goals made (553) and is the program's all-time leader in both games played (154) and games started (124). Faulkner is the first NKU player to earn the Sixth Man of the Year award. He was also named All-League Second Team in 2020-21.
Marques Warrick
Warrick was selected to the All-League second team after he posted one of the best scoring seasons in program history. On the year, the junior and Henry Clay HS graduate averaged 19.0 points per game (41st in the NCAA and fourth in the conference), 2.9 assists (17th in HL), 2.4 boards and 1.3 steals per contest (T-10th in HL). He is currently ranked 20th in the nation in points scored (588), 25th in made field goals (208), 53rd in three-pointers made (79) and 61st in three-point percentage (38.7 percent). Warrick's 588 points scored already this season rank as the NKU NCAA Division I era record and trails Derek Fields's NKU single-season mark of 664 points by just 76 heading into the postseason for most in a single campaign in school history. He is ranked 11th in career scoring (1,518 points), 11th in career field goals (539) and 10th in career three-pointers (208) in NKU history.
It was the second straight year in which Warrick earned second-team all-league honors. It was also his fourth Horizon League award overall as he was also named the conference's Newcomer of the Year and to the league's all-freshman squad in 2020-21.
Sam Vinson
Vinson, a Highlands graduate, picked up double the awards as the sophomore was named to the Horizon League's All-Defensive Team to go with third-team all-league honors. For the season, Vinson averaged 11.4 points (18th in the Horizon League), 4.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists (tied for 15th in the league) and 2.4 steals per game. His steal per contest average is ranked 12th in all of NCAA Division I basketball while Vinson's 66 steals on the year also slots in at No. 12 in the country. Vinson is the first NKU athlete to earn all-defensive team honors since Jalen Tate picked up the award in 2019-20. The standout sophomore was also named the Newcomer of the Year and to the all-league freshman team last year.
Horizon League all-league awards
Player of the Year: Antoine Davis, Detroit MercyCoach of the Year: Jerrod Calhoun, Youngstown StateFreshman of the Year: Brandon Noel, Wright StateDefensive Player of the Year: Ahmad Rand, MilwaukeeSixth Player of the Year: Trevon Faulkner, Northern Kentucky All-league first team (alphabetical by school): Tristan Enaruna, Cleveland State; Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy; Jalen Moore, Oakland; Trey Calvin, Wright State; Dwayne Cohill, Youngstown State. All-league second team (alphabetical by school): BJ Freeman, Milwaukee; Marques Warrick, NKU; Trey Townsend, Oakland; Jarred Godfrey, Purdue Fort Wayne; Kahliel Spear, RMU. All-league third team (alphabetical by school): Jlynn Counter, IUPUI; Sam Vinson, NKU; Enoch Cheeks, RMU; Adrian Nelson, Youngstown State; Brandon Rush, Youngstown State. All-freshman team (alphabetical by school): Vincent Brady II, IUPUI; DJ Jackson, IUPUI; Elijah Jamison, Milwaukee; Brandon Noel, Wright State; John Lovelace Jr., Youngstown State. All-defensive team (alphabetical by school): Deante Johnson, Cleveland State; Deshon Parker, Cleveland State; Ahmad Rand, Milwaukee; Vinson; Kahliel Spear, RMU.
Women's basketball
NKU women's basketball standouts Lindsey Duvall, and Kailee Davis also received recognition from the Horizon League office.
Duvall was named to the conference all-league first ream and Davis earned a spot on the all-league Third Team. "I'm very proud of Lindsey and Kailee for achieving such great honors," head coach Camryn Whitaker said. "We pride ourselves in the process of continuing to improve each year and both Kailee and Lindsey have done that, as have all of our players who may not have been selected for an award!"Duvall, a graduate senior and former Kentucky Miss Basketball from Bullitt East High School, anchored NKU in scoring this season, finishing third overall in the conference in points per game at 16.9. She ranks seventh in the league in rebounding at 7.4 boards per contest.
Duvall in just her second year cracked the all-time NKU top 50 in total points and ranks second overall in all-time scoring average.Davis, a sophomore from Detroit, provided a stellar year in her second stint with the Norse, averaging 13.4 points per game as the second-leading scorer to Duvall. She shot 35 percent from the three-point range. She ranked fifth overall in the Horizon League this year in assist/turnover ratio at 1.43 and was sixth in the conference in assists with 87 total.
The women’s team also earned a bye to the quarterfinals of the conference tourney after earning the No. 5 seed. NKU will travel to Youngstown State to take on the No. 4 seeded Penguins of YSU. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
All-league women's basketball awards
Player of the Year: Destiny Leo, Cleveland StateCoach of the Year: Kevin Borseth, Green BayFreshman of the Year: Brooke Quarles-Daniels, OaklandDefensive Player of the Year: Lilly Ritz, Youngstown StateSixth Player of the Year: Deja Williams, Cleveland State
First team: Lindsey Duvall, Northern Kentucky; Destiny Leo, Cleveland State; Sydney Levy, Green Bay; Rachel Kent, IUPUI; Lilly Ritz, Youngstown State.
Second team: Brittni Moore, Cleveland State; Bailey Butler, Green Bay; Destiny Perkins, IUPUI; Jazmyn Turner, IUPUI; Brooke Quarles-Daniels, Oakland.
Third team: Amele Ngwafang, Cleveland State; Amellia Bromenschenkel, Purdue Fort Wayne; Phoenix Gedeon, RMU; Megan Callahan, Youngstown State.All-freshman team: Jordana Reisma, Cleveland State; Amaya Burch, Detroit Mercy; Kamy Peppler, Milwaukee; Brooke Quarles-Daniels, Oakland; Makiya Miller, Wright State.All-defensive team: Amele Ngawafang, Cleveland State; Bailey Butler, Green Bay; Megan Walstad, Milwaukee; Shayla Sellers, Purdue Fort Wayne; Lilly Ritz, Youngstown State.
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