The Southland Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the Southland Conference's (SLC) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the conference's inaugural basketball season of 1963–64. Five players have won the award two times: Jerry Rook, Larry Jeffries, Andrew Toney, Ryan Stuart and Thomas Walkup. No player has ever won three times. McNeese has the most all-time winners with ten. Among current SLC members, four have never had a winner: Houston Christian and Incarnate Word, both of which joined in 2013; East Texas A&M, which joined in 2022; and UTRGV, which joined in 2024.
Key † Co-Players of the Year* Awarded a national player of the year award that same season: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) 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 Southland Player of the Year award at that point
Winners
Season Player School Position ClassReference 1963–64 Arkansas State F 1964–65 (2) Arkansas State F 1965–66 Arkansas State C 1966–67 Trinity F 1967–68 Abilene Christian G 1968–69 (2) Trinity F 1969–70 Lamar G 1970–71† Lamar F Arkansas State G 1971–72 Louisiana SG 1972–73 Louisiana Tech C 1973–74 Arkansas State C 1974–75 McNeese F 1975–76 Louisiana Tech SG 1976–77 Arkansas State C 1977–78 Louisiana G 1978–79 McNeese PF 1979–80 (2) Louisiana G 1980–81 Lamar PG 1981–82 UT Arlington SF 1982–83 Louisiana Tech PF 1983–84 Lamar SG 1984–85 McNeese PG / SG 1985–86 Louisiana–Monroe F 1986–87 McNeese F 1987–88 North Texas F 1988–89 North Texas PG 1989–90 McNeese C 1990–91† Louisiana–Monroe PG / SG Louisiana–Monroe F 1991–92 Louisiana–Monroe SF 1992–93 (2) Louisiana–Monroe SF 1993–94 Northwestern State C 1994–95 Nicholls SG 1995–96 Louisiana–Monroe SG 1996–97 McNeese F 1997–98 UTSA G 1998–99 Texas State PG 1999–00 Louisiana–Monroe PF 2000–01 McNeese PG 2001–02 UTSA PF 2002–03 Sam Houston State SF 2003–04 UTSA SF 2004–05 Sam Houston State SF / SG 2005–06 Southeastern Louisiana F 2006–07 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi C 2007–08 Stephen F. Austin SF 2008–09 Stephen F. Austin C 2009–10 UT Arlington G 2010–11 Sam Houston State SF 2011–12 McNeese SG / SF 2012–13 Stephen F. Austin PF 2013–14 Stephen F. Austin PF 2014–15 Stephen F. Austin SG / SF 2015–16 (2) Stephen F. Austin SG / SF 2016–17 New Orleans PF 2017–18 Central Arkansas SG 2018–19 Sam Houston State SG 2019–20 Stephen F. Austin SG 2020–21 Sam Houston State SG 2021–22 Nicholls PG 2022–23 Northwestern State PG 2023–24 McNeese SG 2024–25 McNeese SG 2025–26 Stephen F. Austin PG / SG
Winners by school School (year joined) Winners Years McNeese (1972) 10 1975, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1997, 2001, 2012, 2024, 2025 Stephen F. Austin (1987/2024) 8 2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2026 Louisiana–Monroe 7 1986, 1991 (×2)†, 1992, 1993, 1996, 2000 Arkansas State (1963) 6 1964, 1965, 1966, 1971†, 1974, 1977 Sam Houston State (1987) 5 2003, 2005, 2011, 2019, 2021 Lamar (1963/1999/2022) 4 1970, 1971†, 1981, 1984 Louisiana Tech 3 1973, 1976, 1983 Louisiana 3 1972, 1978, 1980 UTSA (1991) 3 1998, 2002, 2004 Nicholls (1991) 2 1995, 2022 North Texas 2 1988, 1989 Northwestern State (1987) 2 1994, 2023 Trinity (1963) 2 1967, 1969 UT Arlington (1963) 2 1982, 2010 Abilene Christian (1963/2013) 1 1968 Central Arkansas (2006) 1 2018 LSU New Orleans (2013) 1 2017 Southeastern Louisiana (1997) 1 2006 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi (2006) 1 2007 Texas State (1987) 1 1999 East Texas A&M (2022) 0 — Houston Christian (2013) 0 — Incarnate Word (2013) 0 — Oral Roberts (2012) 0 — UT Rio Grande Valley (2024) 0 —
References