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Middle Tennessee Head Coach Kermit Davis and Forward JaCorey Williams Claim Top Conference USA Honors
For the fifth time in eight years the Player of the Year and Coach of the Year hail from the same school.
beIN SPORTS
By Ryan Nelson
The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (27-4, 17-1 C-USA) are feeling anything but blue these days as the accolades continue to roll in for head coach Kermit Davis’s club.
On Wednesday Davis was named the Conference USA coach of the year, while senior forward JaCorey Williams was tabbed Conference USA player of the year for the 2016-17 season.
The Blue Raiders climbed to new heights this season, becoming the first team in conference history to string together 17 C-USA wins. For the first time in school history, Middle Tennessee found themselves ranked in the USA Today Top 25.
Williams Can Do it All
Williams, Middle Tennessee’s leading scorer (17.5 ppg) and rebounder (7.4 rbg), played a pivotal role in this team’s trek upwards -- scoring 20 plus points 11 times this season.
Double-doubles are as popular a stat as ever in the sport of basketball, and the senior from Birmingham had more than his fair share. Williams had 11 double-doubles on the season, and twice this season recorded double-doubles in three consecutive games.
Davis Does it Again
For the fifth time in six years, the Blue Raiders tallied 20+ wins under Davis’s leadership. The Blue Raiders already have more wins than they did in the 2015-16 season, a year in which they knocked Michigan State out of the NCAA tournament.
The 2016-17 season marks the sixth time the Blue Raiders have won either a regular season or conference tournament championship under Davis, with this year’s C-USA tournament champion yet to be determined.
The Blue Raiders will face UTSA in the C-USA quarterfinals Thursday at 12:30 PM ET, 11:30 AM CT.