NEW ORLEANS, La. – Kevin Samuel was named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year, and Isaiah Moore was named to the all-conference first team while Samuel was named to the third-team, as announced by the conference on Monday.
 
This is Samuel's second defensive player of the year award of his career, as he won the ASUN award last season at Florida Gulf Coast. Samuel led the Sun Belt in blocked shots (2.5 per game) and was fourth in rebounding (8.9). His 2.5 blocks per game ranks eighth across all Division I players.
 
With Samuel as the anchor, South Alabama had the number-one scoring defense in the conference during conference games, allowing 64.1 points per contest. The Jaguars held the fourth-best defensive rebound percentage in the conference at 72.7%. A great defender without fouling, Samuel averaged only 1.9 fouls per game.
 
A Division II transfer, Moore was the fourth-leading scorer in the conference, averaging 18.5 points per game. He was also fifth in assists (4.5), 10^th in assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and ninth in minutes played (32.9). Moore started every game he played in this season, and he scored 10 or more points in every game except one. He tallied 13 games of 20+ points, fourth-most in the conference.
 
Below is the full list of Sun Belt award winners:
 
Player of the Year: Taevion Kinsey, Marshall
Defensive Player of the Year: Kevin Samuel, South Alabama
Newcomer of the Year: Austin Crowley, Southern Miss
Freshman of the Year: Micah Handlogten, Marshall
Sixth Man of the Year: Terrence Edwards, James Madison
Joe Gottfried Coach of the Year: Jay Ladner, Southern Miss
 
All-Sun Belt First Team
Jordan Brown, Louisiana
Taevion Kinsey, Marshall
Andrew Taylor, Marshall
Isaiah Moore, South Alabama
Austin Crowley, Southern Miss
 
All-Sun Belt Second Team
Andrei Savrasov, Georgia Southern
Terrence Edwards, James Madison
Greg Williams Jr., Louisiana
Felipe Haase, Southern Miss
Zay Williams, Troy
 
All-Sun Belt Third Team
Donovan Gregory, App State
Jamari Blackmon, ULM
Chaunce Jenkins, Old Dominion
Kevin Samuel, South Alabama
DeAndre Pinckney, Southern Miss
Mason Harrell, Texas State
 
Ties were not broken.
 
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