NJCAA Basketball Alumni find Success at the Next Level
Charlotte, NC – As the 2024 NCAA Division I winter sports season comes to a close, the NJCAA is highlighting alumni who continued their success at the next level and received conference awards. NJCAA men's and women's basketball were represented by alumni who received a season-ending award from their four-year institution's conference. Seventeen total alumni took home an individual conference award representing eighteen NJCAA member colleges.
NJCAA men's basketball was represented by 64 alumni receiving All-Conference honors while 14 alumni received individual conference awards.
Yaxel Lendeborg, former Arizona Western student-athlete, was named The American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year and was selected as First Team All-Conference for the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Lendeborg leads The American in rebounding with 10.4 per game and is second in the league with 2.1 blocks per game. The Blazers' junior started in 31 of the 35 games played and averaged 13.8 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 72 total blocks. Yaxel played two seasons at Arizona Western where he was a two-time NJCAA All-American, back-to-back ACCAC Player of the Year. In the 2022-23 season, he averaged 17.2 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 72.7 percent from the field.
Former Lake Region State (ND) player, Clarence Daniels was selected as the American East Conference Player of the Year as well as a member of the All-Conference First Team for New Hampshire. Daniels was just the second Wildcat to ever win the league's top men's basketball honor and first since Scott Drapeau in 1994. He was the league's leading scorer at 19.6 points per game and was second in rebounding with 9.3 per contest while collecting 12 double-doubles this season. Daniels was named AE Co-Player of the Week on Feb. 5 and was also a first-team All-Conference selection for the second-straight season. Daniels played for Lake Region State for the 2021-22 season where he played in 32 games while averaging 20.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. The former Royal was named an NJCAA All-American while also being named MonDak Conference MVP and selected to the All-Region XIII team.
Deyton Albury, former Chipola (FL) player, was named Atlantic Sun Conference Newcomer of the Year while also receiving Third Team All-Conference honors for Queens. Albury was named the Newcomer of the Year after earning the Newcomer of the Week honor twice this season. He is currently averaging 17.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists as the Royals prepare for their second trip to the ASUN postseason. The Nassau native ranks fifth in the league in scoring, eighth in field goal percentage, eighth in assists, eighth in steals, ninth in free throw percentage, and 14th in rebounding. While at Chipola Albury appeared in all 34 games, including 28 starts while averaging 10.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. He was named First Team Panhandle All-Conference while leading the Indians to a pair of Panhandle Conference titles, two trips to the NJCAA Division 1 Tournament, and a national ranking as high as No. 1.
Trinidad State (CO) was represented by former player Dejour Reaves who was selected as the Big Sky Conference Top Reserve while being a part of the All-Conference Second Team for Northern Colorado. Reaves saw action in 21 games while averaging 15.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Dejour spent two seasons with Trinidad State while playing in 51 games and finished with 1,111 points in his two years with the Trojans. Reaves started all 24 games for Trinidad State during the 2022-23 season, averaging 24 minutes per game, while scoring 23.5 points per game. Dejour helped Trinidad State to back-to-back Region IX titles in 2022 and 2023 and was named Second Team All-American and Region IX Player of the Year in 2023.
Former Coffeyville (KS) student-athlete Latrell Reid was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year while also being a member of the All-Conference Third Team. Reid, was the anchor for one of the league's best defensive teams in Saint Peter's. A native of Willingboro, NJ, Reid averaged 11.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.0 steals per game during his final season in Jersey City. Among the MAAC leaders, he ranked third in assists per game, third in total assists, ninth in assists to turnover ratio, and 21st in scoring. Reid's eight steals against UMBC on December 12 were the most in a game by a MAAC player this season and his 17 assists on March 3 against Manhattan, set a program record and was tied for the most in a game for a MAAC player this season. Latrell attended Coffeyville for one season where he appeared in 27 games averaging 10 minutes per contest and finishing the season with 50 points, 49 boards, 42 assists and nine steals.
Troy Hupstead, former Panola (TX) player, was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year while also being named to the All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team for Maryland Eastern Shore. Hupstead was the first major award recipient for the Hawks since 2014-15. He has recorded seven double-doubles and six 20-point games with an average of 13.5 points on the season to lead the Hawks. Additionally, Hupstead leads his team in rebounding with 211 (8.4), sits second with 15 blocks (0.6), and fifth in steals (0.64). In MEAC rankings, he is eighth in scoring per game (14.8), first in rebounding (9.1), fourth in field goal percentage (42.4), 15th in free throw percentage (71.9), and sixth in blocked shots per game (0.9). Troy attended Panola for one season where he played in 32 games and made 19 starts while averaging 11.8 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
Mineral Area (MO) was represented by former player, Malevy Leons, who was the Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year while also being a member of the All-Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team for Bradley. Leons is the first MVC player in the past 33 years (since the 1991-92 season) to record 40+ blocks and 40+ steals in back-to-back seasons -- he has 50 steals and 45 blocks this year after going 52-52 last season. He's the fifth player in school history to win the award and first to repeat as Defensive Player of the Year and seventh in league history to earn the award twice. Leons spent two season at Mineral Area where he was named the David Rowlands NJCAA Male Student-Athlete of the Year, the NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Player of the Year and the NABC Two-Year College Player of the Year in 2021 while also earning first-team NJCAA All-America honors and added Region 16 Player of the Year accolades in addition to first-team all-region and all-conference honors. He ranked 37th nationally with 18.7 points and 25th with 9.5 rebounds as a sophomore – shooting 56.4 percent and adding 3.1 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. Leons helped lead Mineral Area College to a 54-3 record during his two seasons on campus – its most wins in school history in any two-year span and led the Cardinals to a perfect 20-0 regular season in 2020-21 before winning the Region 16 and Midwest District Championships. Malevy earned NJCAA All-Tournament Team honors as he helped the Cardinals to the Elite Eight and earn the school's first-ever NJCAA Tournament victory.
Former Ranger (TX) and Grayson (TX) student-athlete, Tayton Conerway was named the Sun Belt Conference Sixth Man of the Year for Troy. Conerway made just two starts during the season and is tied for second on the team in scoring with 11.6 points, 2.5 assists and a Sun Belt-leading 2.1 steals per game while shooting 47.6 percent from the field. He has scored in double-figures 21 times and led a Trojans team that leads the Sun Belt in scoring and ranks 15th in NCAA Division I at 29.3 points per game. Conerway's 64 total steals this season ranks in the top-25 nationally for a Trojan defense that recorded 10.3 steals per contest which ranks seventh nationally. His efforts aided Troy's efforts to force opponents into 15.3 turnovers per game which is first in the conference and a top-20 mark nationally. Tayton spent the 2020-21 season at Grayson where he appeared in 17 games and averaged 7.7 points per game on 38 percent shooting. He then spent the next two seasons at Ranger. In 2021-22 he appeared in 23 games while starting 13 and averaged 18.3 points per game on 43.2 percent shooting from the field. In 2022-23 Conerway was named the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Men's Player of the Year in the JUCO division and NJCAA All-American First Team He played 35 games and averaged 15.7 points per game on 48.4 percent shooting from the field and 34.4 percent from 3-point range with 6.2 rebounds per game.
Dalton Knecht, former Northeastern Junior College (CO) player, was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and was also selected as a member of the All-Conference First Team for Tennessee. A fifth-year guard from Thornton, Colo., Knecht is averaging a league-best 21.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, while shooting 47.4 percent overall and 40.5 percent on 3-pointers. In SEC play, he averaged 25.5 points per contest, the second-best mark in the league over the last 22 years (2002-24). His 24.8 scoring average on the road finished as the second-best by an SEC player in the last 20 seasons (2004-24). Before his lone season at Tennessee, Dalton spent two seasons at Northern Colorado where he played from 2021 to 2023. In the 2022-23 season Knecht won the Big Sky scoring title by averaging a league-best 20.2 points per game, which ranked 23rd among Division I players, and also finished the year ranked second in the Big Sky in minutes played (35.3 mpg), second in defensive rebounds per game (6.5 drpg), fifth in field-goal percentage (.479), sixth in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and ninth in free-throw percentage (.771). In the 2020-21 season, Dalton averaged 8.9 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting .436 from the field, .361 from 3-point range and .753 from the free-throw line. Before taking his talents to the next level Knecht spent two seasons (2019-2021) playing for NJCAA member college Northeastern Junior College. In Dalton's sophomore season he earned first-team NJCAA All-American honors while helping lead the Plainsmen to the NJCAA DI Tournament. Knecht Started all 20 games in which he appeared and averaged a team-high 23.9 points while shooting .512 from the field, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game and shot .395 from 3-point range (34 of 86). As a true freshman Dalton started 14 of 31 games and averaged 13.3 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.1 assist while shooting .504 from the field and .451 from 3-point range (74 of 164).
John A. Logan (IL) was represented by former player, Sean East II, who was named the Southeastern Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year for Missouri. East ranks fifth in the SEC with 17.9 points and ninth with 4.0 assists per game. Overall, East has increased his scoring average by 10.6 points from the 2022-23 campaign – the largest increase in the SEC this season, sixth most among power-conference players and the most by a Tiger since 1976-77. Off the court, East earned his bachelor's degree in general studies last year with a 3.64 grade point average. He is currently pursuing his master's in positive coaching, maintaining a GPA of 3.90. In 2023, East earned NABC Honors Court and SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll accolades. Before Missouri Sean spent the 2021-22 season at NJCAA member John A. Logan where he averaged 20.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game and helped the Vols to a 29-4 overall record and Region 24 Championship title. Before playing for John A. Logan East II was enrolled at Bradley and UMass. While at Bradley he played in 24 games with 20 starts while leading Bradley with 3.7 assists per game and at UMass he appeared in all 31 games including 20 starts and led UMass with 4.9 assists per game and 34 total steals.
Vonterius Woolbright, a former Lawson State (AL) alum, was named Southern Conference Player of the Year and received First Team All-Conference honors for Western Carolina. Woolbright is Western Carolina's first player of the year since the 1997-98 season. Woolbright ends the season leading the NCAA in triple-doubles (5) and double-doubles (26). He is also leads in the SoCon with 21.4ppg scoring, 12.1 rpg rebounding, and 34.6 minutes. The Catamounts had a 22-9 overall record with Woolbright helping lead the team to just its second 20-win season as an NCAA Division I program. Throughout the season, Woolbright was named SoCon Player of the Week nine times and SoCon Player of the Month three times. Before Western Carolina, he was a member of the Cougars basketball team for two seasons. During his time at Lawson State, Woolbright was named the ACCC Co-Player of the Year and was an NJCAA All-America honorable mention. In his sophomore season, he averaged 17.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 7.7 assists in 23 games.
Former Phoenix (AZ) player Jamar Brown was named Summit League Newcomer of the Year while also receiving First Team All-Conference and Newcomer Team selection for Missouri-Kansas City. Starting all 31 games, Brown averaged 16.5 ppg and 5.2 rpg throughout the season for the Roos. In his junior season, he had six 20-plus point games and three double-doubles. Brown played two seasons at NJCAA member Phoenix where he was named NJCAA Division II Region I Player of the Year and received Second Team All-American, First Team All-ACCAC, and First Team All-NJCAA Region I honors. In his sophomore season for the Bears, he led the ACCAC with 22.8 points per game and ranked third in rebounds per game with 9.8 and steals with 55. In his freshman season, he averaged 16.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game with 26 double-digit scoring games including nine 20 plus point showings.
Indian Hills (IA) alum Tyon Grant-Foster was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year for Grand Canyon and received First Team All-Conference honors. As a senior, Grant-Foster finished the season leading the team in points per game with 19.8 and is third in rebounds with 6.0. He also leads the WAC in scoring per game and is fifth in blocks per game and 10th in steals per game. Before joining the Lopes, Grant-Foster had not played basketball in two years after suffering from a heart condition that resulted in two heart surgeries. As a member of the DePaul basketball team, Grant-Foster collapsed at halftime during the first game of the season. After months of tests and two heart surgeries, he was told that his basketball career was over. Even though his stay with the Blue Demons was short-lived, Grant-Foster was able to find his way to Grand Canyon in Spring of 2023 allowing him to lead the Lopes to receiving their first-ever NCAA Tournament win. Before DePaul, he played at the University of Kansas for one season after transferring from NJCAA member college Indian Hills. At Indian Hills, Grant-Foster played for two seasons earning NJCAA All-America honorable mention.
Former Northeastern Oklahoma A&M student-athlete, Jonathan Mogbo was named West Coast Conference Newcomer of the Year for the University of San Francisco. Mogbo also received First Team All-Conference honors as he ranks ninth in the nation in field goal percentage, ninth in double-doubles (16), and 12th in rebounding. Mogbo was named the West Coast Conference (WCC) Player of the Week three times and boasted 10 or more rebounds with double figures in 26 of 31 games on the season. Prior to San Francisco, Mogbo was a member of the Norseman basketball team for one season where he received NJCAA First Team All-Region honors and scored in double figures 26 times averaging 14.3 points and 10.5 rebounds per game. After Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, he played at Missouri State for one season. At Missouri State, Mogbo averaged 8.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks.
NJCAA women's basketball was represented by 13 alumni receiving All-Conference honors. Kierra Wheeler, Faith Blackstone, and Kaye Clark received individual awards.
Kierra Wheeler, former Daytona State (FL) women's basketball player, was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year for Norfolk State and received First Team All-Conference and All-Defensive Team honors. A member of the Falcons basketball team for one season, she averaged 26.7 minutes, 12.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, 1.2 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. She was named to the FCSAA All-Central Conference first team and ranked top 10 in the state in rebounding and field goal percentage and top 25 in the nation in offensive rebounding. After Daytona, Wheeler transferred to Norfolk State to continue her collegiate career. In her first season at Norfolk, she helped lead the Spartans to the 2023 MEAC Women's Basketball Championship title, was named to the MEAC second team, and received defensive team honors. She also received MEAC Player of the Week honors four times after having a season that consisted of her ranking firs in the NCAA in scoring defense and field goal percentage as well as fifth nationally in steals per game, turnovers forced per game, and three-point percentage defense. Now in her junior year, Wheeler has ended the current season with a total of seven MEAC weekly honors, ranking 18 in all Division I players in offensive rebounds per game, and having been named the Boxtorow National HBCU Player of the Week after back-to-back 20-point double-double performances. Wheeler is the leading scorer for Norfolk averaging 17.5 points per game and ranks second in the MEAC in rebounding (9.4) and blocks per game (1.4.)
Former CCBC Essex (MD) student-athlete, Faith Blackstone was named Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Sixth Player of the Year for Coppin State. Blackstone also received First Team All-Conference honors as she ranks fourth overall in the MEAC with 12.1 points per game, the team's second leading scorer. She also ranks fifth in three-point field goal percentage (38.3) with 17 double-digit scoring games. Blackstone got her collegiate start at Syracuse before transferring to North Carolina A&T where she played for one season. After A&T, she transferred to NJCAA member college CCBC Essex where she played for the Knights for one season. During her time at CCBC Essex, she helped lead the Knights to the 2023 NJCAA National Championship title after a 36-1 season. Blackstone was named NJCAA National Player of the Year, First Team All-American, Region 20 Player of the Year, and First Team All-Region selection. She averaged 19.6 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.4 steals. Now as a junior for Coppin State, she finishes the season with conference honors after having a season-high 22 points in a victory against FIU, two 17-point games, and a 15-point game that resulted in a win against Pitt.
Trinity Valley (TX) alum Kaye Clark was named Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year for Old Dominion. As a graduate student, Clark finished the season leading the Sun Belt in steals (87) allowing her to be ranked eighth nationally, steals per game (30) allowing her to be ranked 12th in all NJCAA Division I, and is the top defensive player for the Old Dominion basketball team known for being one of the top defensive teams in the Sun Belt Conference. Through her efforts, the Monarchs finished the regular season ranked 15th nationally in turnovers forced per game (20.86), 25th in turnover margin (4.59) and three-point percentage defense (.271), and 28th in steals per game (10.7). In her two seasons at Trinity Valley, Clark led the Lady Cardinals to the Region 14 Championship title twice receiving First Team All-Conference and All-Region honors as a sophomore. She was also named NJCAA Second Team All-American after averaging 11.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2.4 steals per game in her second season. Throughout her career at Old Dominion, Clark has led the conference in steals, scored in double figures numerous times, and tallied 54 steals and 3.0 steals per game, a league best in her final season.
