Men's Basketball All-Conference and Major Award Winners Announced
ROCK HILL, S.C. (TheSAC.com) – Lincoln Memorial's Wes Enis was voted the 2024-25 South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year along with earning the SAC Defensive Player of the Year honor as announced by the conference office today. Enis' teammate Elyjah Freeman earned the Freshman of the Year award while Lenoir-Rhyne's Ziare Wells and Brent Owen were named the Newcomer of the Year and Coach of the Year respectively.
Enis, a sophomore from Conover, Ohio, was the conference's Freshman of the Year last season and followed that up by raking in two more individual accolades. Enis poured in 20.5 points per game and added 4.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. He scored a season-best 35 points against Carson-Newman on Feb. 26 and had three games with 30+ points. Enis scored in double figures in all but two contests this year and was just as valuable on the defensive end. Enis produced 34 steals and was matched up against the best perimeter players in the league.
Freeman, a freshman from Palm Beach, Fla., was a standout for the Railsplitters in his rookie campaign. Freeman averaged 17.6 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per night to go with 2.4 assists per game. Freeman went off for 36 points and 11 boards against Carson-Newman on Jan. 8 and had 32 points and 12 rebounds against Coker the next game to earn National Player of the Week honors. Freeman produced 10 double-doubles on the campaign.
Wells, a junior from Queens, N.Y., earned the Newcomer of the Year after coming to Lenoir-Rhyne from Monroe Community College. Wells made an instant impact for the Bears, leading the team in scoring at 17.3 points per game. He added 5.4 rebounds and just under 2.0 assists per contest while shooting 54.8 percent from the floor and 41.4 percent from long range. Wells had three games of 30+ points, including a season-high 33 against Carson-Newman on Feb. 1. Wells had three double-doubles on the year.
Owen was voted as the SAC Coach of the Year in just his first season at the helm. He guided the Bears to a second-place finish in the conference standings, the highest LR has finished since they won the league in 2008-09. Owen helped improve LR from 10 conference wins last season to a 20-4 mark this year. The 23 wins by the Bears in 2024-25 are the most in a season since 2008. With one more win, the Bears would reach the highest win total since 1993 when they went 25-7.
The First Team All-Conference consisted of Enis, Freeman and Wells along with Kendall Taylor of Wingate, Jack Browder of Carson-Newman and Bradley Dean of UVA Wise. Taylor led the league in scoring at 24.6 points per game and added 8.2 rebounds per game. Taylor ranks fifth in DII in points per game.
2024-25 South Atlantic Conference Men's Basketball All-Conference
First Team
Wes Enis, Lincoln Memorial
Kendall Taylor, Wingate
Jack Browder, Carson-Newman
Elyjah Freeman, Lincoln Memorial
Ziare Wells, Lenoir-Rhyne
Bradley Dean, UVA Wise
Second Team
John Zhao, Carson-Newman
Trey Hubbard, Carson-Newman
Evan Ramsey, UVA Wise
Sirr Hughes, Limestone
Hantz Louis-Jeune, Lenoir-Rhyne
Kris Robinson, Catawba
Third Team
Conrad Luczynski, Lenoir-Rhyne
Nick Walker, Catawba
Bryce Jackson, Tusculum
Cole Middleton, Anderson
AJ Wright Jr., Anderson
Ian Blue, Coker
All-Freshman
Elyjah Freeman, Lincoln Memorial
EJ Smith, Lincoln Memorial
Max Hurray, Coker
Denaj Kimber, Tusculum
Anderson Cummins, UVA Wise
Player of the Year
Wes Enis, Lincoln Memorial
Newcomer of the Year
Ziare Wells, Lenoir-Rhyne
Freshman of the Year
Elyjah Freeman, Lincoln Memorial
Defensive Player of the Year
Wes Enis, Lincoln Memorial
Coach of the Year
Brent Owen, Lenoir-Rhyne