Lawson brothers named all-AAC
If there remained any doubt to how important the Lawson brothers were to this year’s Memphis men’s basketball team, the announcement of the American Athletic Conference’s annual all-league teams Tuesday should erase it.
Sophomore Dedric Lawson earned first team all-conference honors, while redshirt freshman K.J. Lawson was named to the AAC’s all-rookie team. They were only two Tigers representatives as the conference began its roll out of postseason awards ahead of this week’s AAC tournament in Hartford, Connecticut. Who: Memphis (19-12, 9-9) vs. Central Florida (20-10, 11-7) When, where: 1 p.m., Friday; XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut TV, radio: ESPN2; WREC-AM 600, WEGR-FM 102.7
Dedric Lawson, who was named to last year’s all-rookie team and earned the AAC’s preseason player of the year award along with Cincinnati’s Troy Caupain, just finished off a historic regular season.
He is averaging a team-best 19.9 points,
9.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game and also ranked second in assists at 3.3 per game. The Memphis native recently became the first player in school history to top 500 points, 300 rebounds and 100 assists in a single season. Lawson also recorded an AAC-best 19 double-doubles this year and leads the league in rebounding.
It remains unclear whether Lawson will return to Memphis for another year or elect to pursue a professional basketball career this offseason.
Coming off a 2015-16 campaign cut short by injury, K.J. Lawson finished the regular season as the Tigers’ third-leading scorer at 12.4 points per game and ranks third in the AAC in rebounding (8.3 per game). He is one of the leading contenders to be named AAC rookie of the year, which will be revealed Thursday in Hartford, Connecticut. Cincinnati’s Jarron Cumberland was the lone unanimous selection to the all-AAC rookie team.
The AAC will announce its defensive player of the year, most improved player, sixth man award and sportsmanship award on Wednesday. In addition to rookie of the year, the AAC will announce its player of the year, coach of the year and scholar-athlete of the year during a Thursday afternoon news conference before the start of the league tournament that night.
The awards and all-league teams were voted on by the AAC’s 11 head coaches. First team all-AAC G Jalen Adams, Connecticut, So. G Damyean Dotson, Houston, R-Sr. G Rob Gray, Houston, R-Jr. F Dedric Lawson, Memphis, So. F Semi Ojeleye, SMU, R-Jr. Second team all-AAC G Sterling Brown, SMU, Sr. G Troy Caupain, Cincinnati, Sr. G Shake Milton, SMU, So. G B.J. Taylor, UCF, So. F Ben Moore, SMU, Sr. F Kyle Washington, Cincinnati, R-Jr. All-Rookie team G Jarron Cumberland, Cincinnati G Jeremy Sheppard G Quinton Rose, Temple F Vance Jackson, UConn F K.J. Lawson, Memphis