NW Oklahoma News

The Sooner Athletic Conference announced its 2022-23 Men's Basketball All-Conference team and individual awards with several Langston Lions receiving honors.

SAC regular-season champion Langston gathered multiple awards including player of the year (Tristan Harper) defensive player of the year (Cortez Mosley), newcomer of the year (Harper) and the John Hudson coach of the year (Chris Wright).

Harper led Langston with 15.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game this season. Harper a 6-foot-6 senior from Columbus, Ga., lands on the all-conference first team for the first time. Harper had a season-high 35 points in a 97-67 win at home over Southwestern Christian on Nov. 19. He had a season high of 12 rebounds three times throughout the season at Mid-America Christian, vs. Central Christian and vs. Science & Arts. He was named the Oklahoma Ford Dealers SAC player of the week for his exploits on the court Nov. 14-20.Mosley averaged 10.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game this season. Mosley had a season-high 21 points versus UNT-Dallas on Feb. 16, 2023, and Midland University on Nov. 7, 2022. He was also selected to the All-SAC second team for his efforts.

Wright took home league coach of the year honors after one of the most remarkable turnarounds for a program in history. Wright was named the Lions' head coach last spring, inheriting a program that went 1-27 in 2021-22. He retooled the team, leading them to an overall record of 26 wins and 2 losses and a 20-2 mark in conference games, leading to a regular-season conference championship. It was the first regular-season championship for the Lions since joining the SAC.

Rounding out the selections were Toru Dean and AJ Rainey who were named to the All-SAC Third Team and All-SAC Honorable Mention Teams respectively. Dean and Mosley were also named to the SAC All-Defensive team.

Dean averaged 10.1 points per game, 3.4 assists per game, 4.0 rebounds per game and 2.2 steals per game. He posted a season-high 26 points on Feb. 11, 2023, versus Texas Wesleyan.

Rainey averaged 12.6 points per game, 3.4 assists per game and 3.0 rebounds per game. He posted a season-high 20 points versus USAO on January 5, 2023. 

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