Wichita State’s Tyson Etienne is the American Athletic Conference Co-Player of the Year and Isaac Brown was a runaway choice for Coach of the Year, the league announced Wednesday.
In addition, WSU’s Alterique Gilbert earned third team all-conference status and Ricky Council IV was named to the all-freshman team.
Both Brown and Etienne went from unlikely to unanimous choices over a span of just four months. All 10 ballots cast by opposing head coaches included Brown as coach of the year and Etienne as first team all-league.
Brown was thrust into an interim role on Nov. 17 – just eight days before the start of the college basketball season – and earned the job on a permanent basis after leading a WSU team picked seventh to its first American regular season title.
Brown becomes WSU’s eighth coach-of-the-year winner and its first of The American era. Notably, he’s the third in Shocker history to win as a rookie head coach, joining Gary Thompson (1965) and Eddie Fogler (1987).
Etienne – a 6-2 shooting guard from Englewood, N.J. — wasn’t picked for either of the preseason all-conference teams but averaged 17.1 points and 3.1 threes-per-game on 40 percent accuracy during the regular season. He scored at least 20 points in seven of the Shockers’ 13 conference games.
Etienne (who shares the top honor with Houston’s Quentin Grimes) is just the fifth Shocker individual to win a conference player of the year award. A star-studded list features Antoine Carr (1983), Xavier McDaniel (1984 and 1985), Paul Miller (2006) and Fred VanVleet (2014 and 2016).
Gilbert’s all-conference nod continues one of college basketball’s best feel-good stories. After four injury-plagued seasons at UConn, the former McDonald’s All-American has found success as Wichita State’s starting point guard.
The 6-foot senior from Atlanta is averaging 10.1 points and leads the team in both assists (4.2) and steals (1.5). In conference play, his 4.8 assists-per-game ranked second on the league leaderboard. Gilbert’s 12 assists in the Mar. 3 win at Tulane were the most by a Shocker in more than 30 years.
Council – a 6-6 guard from Durham, N.C. — has been an important weapon for the Shockers off the bench, averaging 7.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 16.4 minutes.
Council becomes the second Shocker to make The American’s All-Freshman team. Teammate Dexter Dennis earned that honor in 2019.
2020-21 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE AWARDS:
All-Conference First Team:
Jayden Gardner, Jr., F, East Carolina
Quentin Grimes, Jr., G, Houston*
Landers Nolley II, So., G, Memphis
Kendric Davis, Jr., G, SMU*
Tyson Etienne, So., G, Wichita State*
All-Conference Second Team:
Keith Williams, Sr., G, Cincinnati
DeJon Jarreau, Sr., G, Houston
Justin Gorham, Sr., F, Houston
Marcus Sasser, So., G, Houston
Brandon Rachal, Sr., F, Tulsa
All-Conference Third Team:
Brandon Mahan, Sr., G, UCF
Darius Perry, Sr., G, UCF
Feron Hunt, Sr., G, SMU
Khalif Battle, So., G, Temple
Jaylen Forbes, So., G, Tulane
Alterique Gilbert, R-Sr., G, Wichita State
All-Freshman Team:
Isaiah Adams, G, UCF
Tari Eason, F, Cincinnati
Moussa Cisse, C, Memphis
Caleb Murphy, G, USF
Damian Dunn, G, Temple
Ricky Council IV, G, Wichita State
Coach of the Year:
Isaac Brown, Wichita State*
Player of the Year:
Tyson Etienne, So., G, Wichita State
Quentin Grimes, Jr., G, Houston
Defensive Player of the Year:
DeJon Jarreau, Sr., G, Houston
Freshman of the Year:
Moussa Cisse, C, Memphis
Most Improved Player:
Justin Gorham, Sr., F, Houston
Sixth Man of the Year:
Boogie Ellis, So., G, Memphis
Darien Jackson, Sr., G, Tulsa
Sportsmanship Award:
J.P. Moorman II, Sr., F, Temple
* denotes unanimous selections
WSU Conference Coach of the Year Winners:
1954 – Ralph Miller (MVC)
1965 – Gary Thompson (MVC)
1987 – Eddie Fogler (MVC)
2006 – Mark Turgeon (MVC)
2012 – Gregg Marshall (MVC)
2013 – Gregg Marshall (MVC)
2014 – Gregg Marshall (MVC)
2021 – Isaac Brown (American)
WSU Conference Player of the Year Winners:
1983 – Antoine Carr (MVC)
1984 – Xavier McDaniel (MVC)
1985 – Xavier McDaniel (MVC)
2006 – Paul Miller (MVC)
2014 – Fred VanVleet (MVC)
2016 – Fred VanVleet (MVC)
2021 – Tyson Etienne (American)
