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McGhee Earns 3rd Straight ASUN POY Award, Flames Feature 3 in Postseason Awards
2/27/2023 4:00:28 PM | Men's Basketball
Liberty’s Darius McGhee has been selected as the ASUN Men’s Basketball Player of the Year for a third straight season.
McGhee is one of only two players in ASUN history to earn the award three times, joining Centenary’s Willie Jackson (1982-84). McGhee is the 33rd player in NCAA Division I men’s basketball history to be named a three-time conference player of the year in one conference.
McGhee was also a unanimous selection to the ASUN All-Conference first team, his third career first team honor. Joining McGhee in the postseason awards are Kyle Rode and Colin Porter. Rode has been tabbed an ASUN All-Conference second team honoree for the second straight season, while Porter garnered inclusion on the ASUN All-Freshman team.
Liberty (24-7, 15-3 ASUN) was one of four ASUN teams with two representatives on the ASUN All-Conference squads. The Flames have featured 11 ASUN All-Conference players in five years in the league while posting a 65-14 regular season mark.
The Flames earned a share of the ASUN regular season title and will host the winner of No. 7 seed North Florida (14-16, 9-9 ASUN) and No. 8 seed Bellarmine (14-17, 9-9 ASUN) in the ASUN Championship quarterfinal round, Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Liberty Arena.
Darius McGhee (Three-time ASUN Player of the Year and ASUN All-Conference first team) | Redshirt Senior | Guard | Roxboro, N.C.
• Back-to-back-to-back ASUN Player of the Year (2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23)
• Four-time ASUN Player of the Week this season, nine honors for his career
• Set the Liberty and ASUN all-time scoring record, up to 2,556 career points
• One of four players in NCAA history with 500 or more three-pointers (505)
• Leads ASUN in scoring average (22.3 ppg) total threes (139), second in free throw percentage
• No. 2 nationally in threes per game (4.48) and total threes (139), No. 2 in total points (692), No. 4 in scoring average (22.3 ppg), No. 11 in total field goals made (231) and No. 15 in free throw percentage (89.2)
• Has totaled 20 or more points 20 times this year, including a season-best 43 points at Kennesaw State for his fourth career 40-point game
• Named to 2022-23 John R. Wooden Award® presented Wendy?s® Preseason Top 50 Watch List, 2022-23 Lute Olson National Player of the Year Award Watch List and 2023 Bob Cousy Award Watch List
• 2022 Cancun Challenge All-Tournament team
• Named game MVP in the win over Bryant at the 2022 Hall of Fame Classic
Kyle Rode (ASUN All-Conference second team) | Senior | Forward | Lexington, Ky.
• Second on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg), second in assists (3.7 ppg) and fourth in rebounding (3.6 apg)
• Averaged 12.4 ppg on 48.6 shooting in ASUN play and has scored in double figures in 13 of his last 14 games
• No. 30 in the country in assist/turnover ratio (2.64)
• Ranks seventh in school history in career assists (378), 28th in rebounds (456) and tied for 31st in points (981)
• Scored season-high 22 points in ASUN opener at Bellarmine, was 10-of-16 from the floor (career high for field goals made)
• ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year
• 2022-23 College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Men’s Basketball Team®
• Finished with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals in home win over Eastern Kentucky
Colin Porter (ASUN All-Freshman team) | Freshman | Guard | Ashland, Ky.
• Averaging 7.2 points and a team-best 3.9 assists (No. 5 in ASUN) to go along with 2.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game
• Has started all 31 games at point guard in his freshman campaign
• Averaged 7.8 ppg and 3.9 apg in conference play as well as 1.5 spg
• Totaled career-best 16 points against Central Arkansas
• Dished out five or more assists in nine regular season contests, had two games with career-best nine assists
• Scored in double figures eight times during the regular season
Graphic at Top of Story (L-R): No. 0 Colin Porter, No. 22 Kyle Rode, No. 2 Darius McGhee