By CODY LINN

Marshall Athletics

BOSTON – Marshall University men’s basketball fifth-year senior Taevion Kinsey was named a 2023 Lou Henson Award finalist on Thursday. The award is presented annually to the best mid-major basketball player.

 Kinsey has had a storybook ending to his collegiate career being named the SBC Player of the Year and first-team all-conference last week. The Columbus, Ohio, native has scored 706 points (22.1 per game) to lead the conference and rank seventh in the nation this season. Kinsey’s 20 games of 20 or more points and his 271 made field goals also lead the Sun Belt while ranking third in Division I men’s basketball with his made field goals. He tallied a career-high 37 points at Georgia State on February 11, the most by any student-athlete in a Sun Belt Conference game this season.
In addition to his scoring prowess, Kinsey ranks second in the conference in total assists (173) and assists per game (5.4) in the conference. He became the program’s all-time leader in made field goals at Old Dominion passing Skip Henderson’s mark of 1,000 and became the program’s all-time leader in points against Texas State in the quarterfinals of the SBC Tournament when he passed Jon Elmore. 

The award honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons.
Henson is the winningest coach in Illinois basketball history with 423 victories. During his 21 seasons (1975-1996), Henson led the Fighting Illini to 16 postseason appearances, including 12 NCAA tournaments and a Final Four appearance in 1989.
Henson, who is also the all-time winningest coach in New Mexico State history with 289 victories, is one of only 11 coaches to take two different schools to the NCAA Final Four. His teams have made 19 NCAA appearances and four NIT appearances.
Players on teams from the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC, West Coast.
The recipient of the 2023 award will be announced in March, in Houston site of the men’s NCAA Basketball Championship. 

The Herd waits to hear if it will receive a bid into a postseason tournament.