The Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the Southern Conference's (SoCon) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1951–52 season. Fred Hetzel of Davidson is the only player to have won the award three times (1963–1965). Sixteen other players have won the award twice, most recently Isaiah Miller of UNC Greensboro (2020, 2021).
Davidson and Furman have the most all-time winners with 13, but Davidson left the SoCon after the 2013–14 season to join the Atlantic 10 Conference. There have also been nine ties in the award's history, but only one (1970–71 season) which occurred prior to the 1989–90 season. That season was the first for two separate player of the year awards—one by the Southern Conference men's basketball coaches, and the other by conference media members. When both the coaches and media select the same player, he is the consensus conference player of the year. The only current members that have never had a winner are Mercer and Tennessee Tech, the latter of which is playing its first SoCon season in 2026–27.
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) C SoCon coaches' selection (1990–2024)M SoCon media's selection (1990–2024) Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the SoCon Player of the Year award at that point
Winners
Season Player School Position Class Reference 1951–52 Duke G 1952–53 Furman SG 1953–54 (2) Furman SG 1954–55 Furman G 1955–56 (2) Furman G 1956–57 West Virginia SF / SG 1957–58 Washington and Lee PG 1958–59 West Virginia G 1959–60 (2) West Virginia G 1960–61 William & Mary C 1961–62 West Virginia PG / SG 1962–63 Davidson C / PF 1963–64 (2) Davidson C / PF 1964–65 (3) Davidson C / PF 1965–66 Davidson SG 1966–67 Richmond G 1967–68 West Virginia G 1968–69 Davidson C 1969–70 (2) Davidson C 1970–71† East Carolina F William & Mary F 1971–72 Furman C 1972–73 Richmond SF / SG 1973–74 Furman PF 1974–75 (2) Furman PF 1975–76 PG 1976–77 VMI SG / PG 1977–78 (2) VMI SG / PG 1978–79 Furman F 1979–80 (2) Furman F 1980–81 Appalachian State F 1981–82 Chattanooga SG 1982–83 East Tennessee State SG 1983–84 PF / C 1984–85 (2) PF / C 1985–86 VMI SF 1986–87 (2) VMI SF 1987–88 Marshall PG 1988–89 Marshall PG 1989–90† C East Tennessee State PG M (2) Marshall PG 1990–91 (2) East Tennessee State PG 1991–92† M Western Carolina G C Chattanooga C 1992–93 Chattanooga PG 1993–94† C Chattanooga PG M Western Carolina SG / PG 1994–95 (2) Western Carolina SG / PG 1995–96 Western Carolina SG 1996–97 Chattanooga SF 1997–98† C Western Carolina SF M Furman PF / C 1998–99 Charleston F 1999–00 Appalachian State PG 2000–01 Charleston C 2001–02† C East Tennessee State SG M VMI SG / SF 2002–03 Charleston SG 2003–04 East Tennessee State SF 2004–05 Davidson SG 2005–06 Georgia Southern PG 2006–07 UNC Greensboro PF 2007–08 Davidson SG / PG 2008–09 (2) Davidson SG / PG 2009–10† C Wofford F M Appalachian State PG 2010–11 Charleston SG / PG 2011–12† C Davidson SF M Davidson PF 2012–13 (2) Davidson PF 2013–14 (2) Davidson SF 2014–15 Wofford SG 2015–16 Furman SG 2016–17 Furman SG 2017–18† C East Tennessee State PG M Wofford SG 2018–19 (2) Wofford SG 2019–20 UNC Greensboro PG 2020–21 (2) UNC Greensboro PG 2021–22 Chattanooga SG 2022–23 Furman F 2023–24 Western Carolina PG 2024–25 East Tennessee State SG 2025–26 Samford SG / PG
Winners by school School (year joined) Winners Years Davidson (1936)Davidson College left in 2014 to join the Atlantic 10 Conference (A10). 13 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012 (×2)†, 2013, 2014 Furman (1936) 13 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1998†, 2016, 2017, 2023 East Tennessee State (1978, 2014)East Tennessee State University left in 2005 to join the Atlantic Sun Conference and returned in 2014. 7 1983, 1990†, 1991, 2002†, 2004, 2018†, 2025 Chattanooga (1976) 6 1982, 1992†, 1993, 1994†, 1997, 2022 Western Carolina (1976) 6 1992†, 1994†, 1995, 1996, 1998†, 2024 VMI (1924, 2014)Virginia Military Institute left in 2003 to join the Big South Conference and returned in 2014. 5 1977, 1978, 1986, 1987, 2002† West Virginia (1950)West Virginia University left in 1968 to become an independent. The Mountaineers are now in the Big 12 Conference. 5 1957, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1968 Charleston (1998)The College of Charleston left in 2013 to join the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA). 4 1999, 2001, 2003, 2011 Wofford (1997) 4 2010, 2015, 2018, 2019 Appalachian State (1971)Appalachian State University and Georgia Southern University left in 2014 to join the Sun Belt Conference. 3 1981, 2000, 2010† The Citadel (1936) 3 1976, 1984, 1985 Marshall (1976)Marshall University left in 1997 to join the Mid-American Conference. The Thundering Herd are now in Conference USA (C-USA). 3 1988, 1989, 1990† UNC Greensboro (1997) 3 2007, 2020, 2021 Richmond (1936)The University of Richmond left in 1976 to become an independent. The Spiders are now in the A10. 2 1967, 1973 William & Mary (1936)The College of William & Mary left in 1977 to join the ECAC. When the ECAC split its basketball section into multiple conferences in 1982, William & Mary became a charter member of the ECAC South basketball league. The Tribe remain in the conference, which is now the CAA. 2 1961, 1971† Duke (1928)Duke University left in 1953 to become a charter member of the ACC. 1 1952 East Carolina (1964)East Carolina University left in 1976 to become an independent. The Pirates are now in the American Athletic Conference. 1 1971† Georgia Southern (1991) 1 2006 Samford (2008) 1 2026 Washington and Lee (1921)Washington and Lee University left in 1958. They are now in the Division III Old Dominion Athletic Conference. 1 1958 Elon (2003)Elon University left in 2014 to join the CAA. 0 — Mercer (2014) 0 — Tennessee Tech (2026) 0 —
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