Frisco, Texas – With the Lone Star Conference Tournament set to tip off tomorrow, the conference announced their all-conference honorees tonight at the basketball banquet; the Rams received six all-conference honors, with head coach
Vinay Patel being named the Co-Coach of the Year and
Steve Webb being named the Defensive Player of the Year headlining the honors for the Rams.
Additionally,
Kevon Godwin earned all-LSC first-team honors, while
Willie Guy and
Fredelin De La Cruz were named to the second team.
Webb, a graduate transfer from the University of Missouri-St. Louis came to San Angelo with three GLVC Defensive Player of the Year awards in tow and has exceeded expectations on the defensive end of the floor for the Rams. Regularly assigned to guard the opposing team's best player, Webb has spearheaded a Rams' defense that allows 66.6 points per game, fourth in the conference, and forces opponents into 15.3 turnovers per game, also fourth in the LSC.
Individually, Webb leads the conference with 1.8 steals per game. His 49 steals on the season are the second-most the St. Louis native has tallied in his career, only one behind his season best of 50, which he accomplished last season at UMSL. Also named to the all-defensive team, he has 211 career steals and is one of five active Division II players to have 200 or more career steals.
Webb is the first ASU player since 2016 to earn a superlative award from the conference in any capacity; he is the fourth Ram to earn Defensive Player of the Year plaudits and the first to do so since 2001. He joins James Gray (2001), Scott Plemons (1995), and Bobby Darnell (1989) as the Rams who have taken home this award.
In his first season in San Angelo, Patel has taken leadership of a program that went 23-5 overall in the regular season and 19-3 in conference play; they are the three-seed in the LSC Tournament after being picked eighth in the LSC Preseason Poll. Patel has also gone 13-0 inside Junell Center/Stephens Arena, the first coach in program history to go undefeated at home in their first season in charge of the Ram Basketball program.
Earlier this season, he oversaw the Rams' nine-game winning streak, tied for the fifth-longest in the program's history. The Rams' 23 wins are the fifth-most in a single season in program history.
Patel is the first Rams coach named the LSC Coach of the Year since 2015. He is the fourth different ASU men's basketball coach to win the award.
Coming off a 2021-22 season in which he redshirted due to a knee injury, Godwin returned to the court for the Rams with a point to prove, and prove a point, he has. The junior guard scores 17.8 points per game, third in the LSC. He also leads the conference in three-point shooting, shooting 40.8 percent from the field, and makes 2.5 threes per game.
He also shoots 46.5 percent from the field, ninth in the LSC, despite having taken the second-most shots in the conference this season, and in his first season back from injury, he has played 949 minutes, sixth-most in the conference.
Godwin is the first Ram to earn first-team honors since Quay King did so in 2017.
Like Godwin, De La Cruz's 2021-22 season was marred by injury, and like Godwin, his 2022-23 season has seen a resurgence in form for the senior from the Dominican Republic. The Rams' big man is fifth in the conference in rebounding with 6.7 boards per contest and ranks in the top 20 in steals, with 1.2 per game.
De La Cruz has notched five double-doubles this season, including a 13-point, 17-rebound performance against New Mexico Highlands on opening day.
In his first season in the Blue and Gold, Guy has emerged as a leader for the Rams on the court. The only Ram to play in and start every game this season, the Cedar Rapids native is scoring 8.7 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting. He shoots 45 percent from deep and 88.3 percent from the free throw line.
Guy is seventh in the conference in assist/turnover ratio and has 11 games this season in which he scored ten or more points.
These are the first all-conference plaudits for Godwin, De La Cruz, and Guy at ASU.
The Rams start their postseason journey this Friday at noon, taking on sixth-seeded DBU in the LSC Tournament quarterfinals inside the Comerica Center in Frisco.
SPECIAL AWARDS
Player of the Year: Julius Brown, West Texas A&M
Defensive Player of the Year: Steve Webb, Angelo State
Freshman of the Year: Sean Elkinton, St. Edward's
Newcomer of the Year: Damion Thornton, West Texas A&M
Sixth Man of the Year: Zach Toussaint, West Texas A&M
Co-Coaches of the Year: Tom Brown, West Texas A&M /
Vinay Patel, Angelo State
[Each group is sorted in alphabetical order by team name]
FIRST TEAM
Player Team Pos. Year Hometown
Kevon Godwin Angelo State G Jr. Blountstown, Fla.
Cameron Kahn DBU G Jr. Sulphur Springs, Texas
Rowan Mackenzie Lubbock Christian G Jr. Perth, Australia
Jermane Carter Midwestern State F Gr. Mount Laurel, N.J.
Sean Elkinton St. Edward's F Fr. Crosby, Texas
Julius Brown West Texas A&M G Sr. Westrville, Ohio
Damion Thornton West Texas A&M G Sr. Edmond, Okla.
Larry Wise West Texas A&M G Jr. Waxahachie, Texas
SECOND TEAM
Willie Guy Angelo State G Jr. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Fredelin De La Cruz Angelo State F Sr. El Seibo, Dominican Republic
Jahcoree Ealy Eastern New Mexico F Jr. Conway, Ark.
Errol White Eastern New Mexico F So. Queen, N.Y.
Russell Harrison Lubbock Christian G/F Gr. Lubbock, Texas
Uche Dibiamaka St. Edward's G Gr. Adelaide, South Australia
Caleb Jordan St. Mary's G Gr. Midlothian, Texas
Emmanuel Ewuzie St. Mary's F Sr. Sant Antonio, Texas
Dillon Gooding Texas A&M-Kingsville G Jr. Killeen, Texas
C.J. Smith Texas A&M-Kingsville G Jr. Mansfield, Texas
THIRD TEAM
Ta'Jay Dunlap DBU G Sr. Columbia, S.C.
Ricky Lujan DBU G Jr. Las Cruces, N.M.
Pierre Sanders Midwestern State G Jr. Hutto, Texas
Blake Nielsen St. Edward's G So. Perth, Texas
Tyler Caron St. Mary's F Jr. Longview, Texas
Jermaine Drewey Texas A&M International G Sr. Houston, Texas
Payton Brown UAFS G Fr. Waldron, Ark.
DaJuan Jones UT Permian Basin G Gr. Killeen, Texas
Tony Alvalos Western New Mexico G Sr.
Zach Toussaint West Texas A&M G Jr. Johnsburg, Ill.
HONORABLE MENTION
Eze Dike Eastern New Mexico G Gr. Nigeria
Greg Johnson Eastern New Mexico G Jr. Little Rock, Ark.
Antonio Gordon Oklahoma Christian F Jr. Lawton, Okla.
Drew Tennial Oklahoma Christian G Jr. Edmond, Okla.
Jeff Gary St. Edward's G Jr. Austin, Texas
Greg Bowie II Texas A&M International G Gr. San Antonio, Texas
Will Chayer Texas-A&M-Kingsville F Sr. Corpus Christi, Texas
Isaiah Payne Texas A&M-Kingsville G Jr. Ville Platte, La.
Cameron Bush UAFS G Jr. Little Rock, Ark.
Milan Szabo UT Tyler G Sr. Levice, Slovakia
Rashun Williams UT Tyler G Sr. Arlington, Ga.
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Player Team Pos. Year Hometown
Steve Webb Angelo State G Gr. St. Louis, Mo.
Errol White Eastern New Mexico F So. Queen, N.Y.
Jermane Carter Midwestern State F Gr. Mount Laurel, N.J.
Emmanuel Ewuzie St. Mary's F Sr. Sant Antonio, Texas
Tiras Morton Texas A&M International G So. Austin, Texas
Julius Brown West Texas A&M G Sr. Westrville, Ohio
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Player Team Pos. Hometown
Caylen Goff-Brown Cameron G Tulsa, Okla.
Blazej Czerniewicz Eastern New Mexico F Gdansk, Poland
Jose Murillo Eastern New Mexico F Chihuahua, Mexico
Sean Elkinton St. Edward's F Crosby, Texas
Ahamed Mohammed West Texas A&M G Glendale, Ariz.
