The Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the Horizon League's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1979–80 season, the first year of the conference's existence. Seven players have won the award multiple times: Byron Larkin, Brian Grant, Rashad Phillips, Alfredrick Hughes, Keifer Sykes, Loudon Love, and Antoine Davis. Hughes, unlike the other four who each won twice, was awarded the player of the year on three occasions.
There have only been three ties in the award's history (1981, 1983, 2022). Butler, which left for the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2012 and is now in the Big East Conference, has seven recipients, which is tied for the most all-time with Detroit Mercy. Four current members of the Horizon League have never had a winner – IU Indy, Northern Illinois, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Youngstown State. However, these schools include three of the conference's most recent arrivals—IU Indy joined in 2017; Purdue Fort Wayne joined in 2020; and Northern Illinois, which had no winner during its first conference tenure from 1994–1997, rejoined in 2026. The only long-established member without a winner is Youngstown State, which joined in 2002.
Key † Co-Players of the Year* Awarded a national player of the year award that same season: UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96)Oscar Robertson Trophy (1958–59 to present) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Horizon League Player of the Year award at that point
Winners
Season Player School Position Class Reference 1979–80 Oral Roberts F 1980–81† Loyola Chicago PG Oklahoma City F 1981–82 Loyola Chicago PF 1982–83† Oral Roberts C Loyola Chicago SF 1983–84 (2) Loyola Chicago SF 1984–85 (3) Loyola Chicago SF 1985–86 Xavier SG 1986–87 Loyola Chicago PF 1987–88 (2) Xavier SG 1988–89 Evansville PG 1989–90 Xavier PF 1990–91 Butler SG 1991–92 Evansville PF 1992–93 Xavier PF / C 1993–94 (2) Xavier PF / C 1994–95 UIC F 1995–96 Green Bay SF 1996–97 Butler PF 1997–98 UIC G 1998–99 Detroit Mercy SG 1999–00 Detroit Mercy PG 2000–01 (2) Detroit Mercy PG 2001–02 Butler SG 2002–03 Detroit Mercy SG 2003–04 Milwaukee PF / C 2004–05 Milwaukee SG 2005–06 Butler F 2006–07 Wright State PG 2007–08 Butler SG 2008–09 Butler PF 2009–10 Butler SG 2010–11 Cleveland State PG 2011–12 Valparaiso SF 2012–13 Detroit Mercy PG 2013–14 Green Bay PG 2014–15 (2) Green Bay PG 2015–16 Oakland PG 2016–17 Valparaiso SF 2017–18 Oakland SG 2018–19 Northern Kentucky PF / C 2019–20 Wright State C 2020–21 (2) Wright State C 2021–22† Oakland PF Detroit Mercy SG 2022–23 (2) Detroit Mercy SG 2023–24 Oakland SF 2024–25 Robert Morris PF 2025–26 Robert Morris PF
Winners by school School (year joined) Winners Years Butler (1980) 7 1991, 1997, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 Detroit Mercy (1981) 7 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2013, 2022†, 2023 Loyola Chicago (1980) 6 1981†, 1982, 1983†, 1984, 1985, 1987 Xavier (1980) 5 1986, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994 Oakland (2013) 4 2016, 2018, 2022†, 2024 Green Bay (1995) 3 1996, 2014, 2015 Wright State (1995) 3 2007, 2020, 2021 Evansville (1980) 2 1989, 1992 Milwaukee (1995) 2 2004, 2005 Oral Roberts (1980) 2 1980, 1983† Robert Morris (2020) 2 2025, 2026 UIC (1995) 2 1995, 1998 Valparaiso (2008) 2 2012, 2017 Cleveland State (1995) 1 2011 Northern Kentucky (2015) 1 2019 Oklahoma City (1980) 1 1981† IU Indy (2017) 0 — Northern Illinois (1994/2026) 0 — Purdue Fort Wayne (2020) 0 — Youngstown State (2002) 0 —
References