Winthrop’s Johnson Named Big South Player Of The Year, Cooks Finishes 2nd

ROCK HILL, SC—Winthrop senior guard Keon Johnson has been voted as the 2016-17 Big South Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and was joined on the All-Big South First Team by teammate Xavier Cooks.

Johnson led the Eagles in scoring during the regular season and finished second in the Big South at 21.8 ppg. It is the second straight year Johnson has been named to the All-Big South First Team and he’s the first Winthrop player to earn Player of the Year honors since Greg Lewis in 2001-02. Johnson joins Lewis and Fred McKinnon as the only players in program history to earn the top honor in the league. He earned the Big South Player of the Week honor four times this season. This is the second straight season Johnson’s made the first team.

There were a number of milestones that Johnson reached this season but none bigger than becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer. Johnson passed Charles Brunson’s mark that held for a little over 30 years. He is currently 29 points away from becoming the 10^th player in league history to score 2,000 or more points in a career. Johnson also turned in some of the top scoring nights ever by a Winthrop player. He scored a career-high 40 points on national television in the double-overtime loss at UNC Asheville on Feb. 9 in one of the best regular season contests in Big South history. That is the second highest point total by a Winthrop player against a Big South Conference opponent on the road in a single-game. He scored 20 or more points in 19 games and 30 or more in five games. Of the 19 games, 10 of them came on the road.

Cooks was second on the team in scoring this year at 15.9 and finished sixth in the league in scoring, first in blocked shots per game and second in rebounding. Over the course of the last 20 games Cooks averaged a double-double and posted 10 of them on the season. He scored 20 or more points nine times and scored a career-high 30 points on Nov. 27 against New Hampshire. He became the 24^th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points and he’s currently 16^th all-time (5 points behind 15^th and 13 behind 14^th). He’s set a career-high of 255 rebounds this season and now has 675 in his career to rank 6^th all-time. Cooks was a 2015-16 All-Big South Second Team selection.

Junior Anders Broman was named to the Big South All-Academic Team. Broman is third on the team in scoring at 8.2 ppg and is one of the top three-point shooters in the conference.

Johnson and Cooks were joined in the Alll-Big South First Team by UNC Asheville’s Ahmad Thomas and MaCio Teauge as well as Campbell’s Chris Clemons. Johnson is the first Eagle to land on first team in back-to-back seasons since Torrell Martin and James Shuler did so in 2004-05/2005-06.

Keon Johnson Season Highlights/Milestones Reached

• Winthrop all-time leader in points, three-point field goals and free throws made
• One of four players in Big South history with 1,800 points, 350 rebounds, 250 three-pointers and 200 assists in a career
• On the NCAA D1 active list
  • Career Points (7^th)
  • Free throws made (10^th)
  • Three-point field goals (11^th)
  • Field goals made (23^rd)
  • Free throw percentage (48^th)
• His .847 career free throw percentage ranks second all-time in Big South history
• Owns four of the top six scoring performances against Big South opponents
• Became the sixth player in program history to hit 80 or more threes in a single-season
• His 610 points on the season are fourth best in program history for a single-season
• His 38 points in the win at Illinois are tied for the most points in a single-game vs. a Power 5 school
• Moved into the Big South Top 10 Most Free Throws made in a career
• Has more games of 35 or more points than any other player in program history (5)
• Scored 20 or more points in the second half of game on four occasions this season (9 times in career)
• Broke his own record for points per game in league play as he averaged 23.5 (set the record last season at 20.2)
• Scoring average of 21.8 ppg ranks 10^th in the nation
• Big South Rankings
  • Points per game (2^nd)
  • Three-point field goal percentage (1^st)
  • Three-point field goals per game (T-1^st)
  • Field goal percentage (7^th)
  • Assists per game (10^th)

Xavier Cooks Season Highlights/Milestones Reached

• Became the 24^th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points
• Became the 17^th player in Big South history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks
• Became the 11^th player in Big South history with 1,000 points, 550 rebounds and 125 blocks
• Became the 54^th member/8^th Winthrop player with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds
• Moved into second all-time in program history with 149 blocks
• Pulled down 20 rebounds at Longwood and also scored 21 points to become the first 20/20 guy at Winthrop since Tyrone Walker in December of 2003 vs. Western Michigan
• Big South Player of the Week Feb. 20 for averaging 17.5 ppg and 16.5 rpg in two wins the week prior
• Scored 20 or more points in three straight games for first time in his career
• Had a career-best four straight games with a double-double
• Ranks 22^nd nationally in defensive rebounds per game
• Has 12 games of 10 or more rebounds and 9 games of 20 or more points
• Big South Rankings
  • Blocks per game (1^st)
  • Defensive rebounds per game (1^st)
  • Total Blocks (2^nd)
  • Rebounds per game (2^nd)
  • Field goal percentage (4^th)
  • Points per game (6^th)
  • Assists per game (9^th)
  • Free throw percentage (12^th)