FRISCO, Texas – SFA's Keon Thompson has been selected as the 2025-26 Southland Men's Basketball Player of the Year, the conference office announced Friday in addition to its all-conference and other superlative awards. 

Thompson becomes the seventh winner of the award in SFA history and the sixth different player from the program to get the nod. His accolade comes on the heels of a historic regular season for the 'Jacks, scoring 18.1 points-per-game and totaling 560 points on the season to establish himself as one of the premier guards at the mid-major level. 

Thompson earned the conference's Player of the Week award five times while finishing as the only player in the league ranking in the top five in points, points-per-game, assists and assists-per-game. He also earned a spot on the Southland First Team All-Conference. 

SFA head coach Matt Braeuer wins Coach of the Year honors in his first year at the helm in Nacogdoches. He led SFA to a 27-4 record overall and 20 wins in conference play, a new Southland team record. That marks the program's best finish in conference play since the 2019-20 season when the 'Jacks went 19-1 through the conference schedule. 

Jerald Colonel takes home Defensive Player of the Year and returns to the All-Defensive team. Colonel ranks sixth in the nation in total blocks (76) and ninth in blocks per game (2.45), making him the league's leading shot-blocker. 

Lateef Patrick became the fourth Lumberjack to earn superlative recognition as the Southland Newcomer of the Year. Patrick complemented Thompson in the SFA backcourt, averaging 15.5 points-per-game which was a top-10 mark. He scored in double figures in 26 of his 31 games started, tallying 20 or more points in eight of those appearances. Patrick joins Thompson on the First Team All-Conference.

McNeese's Larry Johnson claimed the conference's Freshman of the Year award, guiding the Cowboys to another stellar regular season campaign. Johnson broke Joe Dumars' freshman scoring record while averaging 17.2 points-per-game and posting 20 or more points in 11 games. He also claimed a spot on the First Team All-Conference. 

McNeese's Tyshawn Archie and UTRGV's Koree Cotton accompanied the three superlative winners on the first team. 

The second team is made up of New Orleans' Coleton Benson and Jakevion Buckley, Northwestern State's Micah Thomas, UTRGV's Filip Brankovic and UIW's Davion Bailey. 

The All-Defensive Team is made up of Colonel, Cotton, McNeese's Garwey Dual, New Orleans' Churchill Abass and A&M-Corpus Christi's Leo Torbor. 

The 2026 Air Force Reserve Southland Conference Men’s Basketball Championship presented by Explore Louisiana begins on Sunday, with the championship game on Wednesday. All games will be broadcast on ESPN+ with the first semifinal on ESPNU and the championship game on ESPN2.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Keon Thompson, SFA
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jerald Colonel, SFA
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Lateef Patrick, SFA
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Larry Johnson, McNeese
COACH OF THE YEAR: Matt Braeuer, SFA

FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE

Player	Team	Class	Position	Hometown
Keon Thompson	SFA	Sr.	G	Merrillville, Ind.
Larry Johnson	McNeese	Fr.	G	Savannah, Ga.
Lateef Patrick	SFA	Jr.	G	Milton, Mass.
Koree Cotton	UTRGV	Jr.	G	Miami, Fla.
Tyshawn Archie	McNeese	Jr.	G	Houston, Texas

SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE

Player	Team	Class	Position	Hometown
Coleton Benson	New Orleans	Sr.	G	Austin, Texas
Micah Thomas	Northwestern State	Sr.	G	Oklahoma City, Okla.
Jakevion Buckley	New Orleans	Sr.	G	Shelbyville, Texas
Filip Brankovic	UTRGV	Jr.	F	Indjija, Serbia
Davion Bailey	UIW	Gr.	G	Indianapolis, Ind.

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Player	Team	Class	Position	Hometown
Jerald Colonel	SFA	Sr.	F	Savannah, Ga.
Garwey Dual	McNeese	Jr.	G	Houston, Texas
Churchill Abass	New Orleans	Jr.	C/F	Edo State, Nigeria
Koree Cotton	UTRGV	Jr.	G	Miami, Fla.
Leo Torbor	A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	G	Brooklyn Park, Minn.