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Furman’s Slawson, Morgan named SoCon Athletes of the Year
Morgan repeats as Paladins claim both honors for second straight year
Past male winners
Past female winners
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman golfer Anna Morgan has been named the 2022-23 Southern Conference Female Athlete of the Year and Paladin basketball player Jalen Slawson has been voted the Bob Waters Southern Conference Male Athlete of the Year, the league announced Thursday.
The Athlete of the Year Awards are selected annually by the Southern Conference athletics directors and a media member representing each conference school. The award recognizes athletic achievement, academic performance and civic involvement. Prior to 1990-91, the award was selected solely by members of the Southern Conference Sports Media Association. Beginning in 1991-92, the men's award was named after the late Bob Waters, who was Western Carolina's head football coach from 1969-88.
The Furman sweep is just the fourth in the history of the awards and the Paladins’ second in a row. ETSU’s Keith “Mister” Jennings and Nicole Hopson both won in 1990-91 and Mercer’s Will Bagrou and Kahlia Lawrence did so in 2017-18. Furman’s Morgan and Cameron Ponder won last year, with Ponder sharing the men’s award with Chattanooga’s Cole Strange.
Morgan is Furman’s fourth straight SoCon Female Athlete of the Year, following former teammate Natalie Srinivasan, who won in 2019-20 and went on to play on the Epson Tour, and professional Adidas runner Gabbi Jennings, who claimed the honor in 2020-21. Morgan is the first SoCon woman to earn consecutive honors since App State track star Melissa Morrison won in 1991-92 and 1992-93 and is just the third to earn the distinction twice overall. She claims Furman’s 12th SoCon Female Athlete of the Year honor.
Morgan led the league in stroke average for the second straight season with a 72.43 mark over 35 rounds en route to being named the SoCon Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. The senior from Spartanburg, South Carolina, posted a pair of individual wins on the season, taking first at the UNF Collegiate on March 6-7 at 12-under-par and earning medalist honors at the SoCon Women’s Golf Championship on April 16-18 at 2-under. She also helped the Paladins to team titles at the SoCon Championship and the Lady Paladin Invitational, taking runner-up individual honors at Furman’s home tournament on Sept. 23-25. Morgan closed her season with a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Regional Championship in Athens, Georgia, marking her fourth top-10 finish in 11 events in 2022-23.
Furman’s Edna Hartness Female Athlete of the Year for the second straight year, Morgan earned All-SoCon honors for the third straight season. She finished the season as the highest-ranked SoCon women’s golfer at No. 73 nationally and competed in her second straight Augusta National Women's Amateur. She was a two-time SoCon Player of the Week in 2022-23, bringing her career total to a league-record eight selections, and was the SoCon Player of the Month for April, marking her fourth monthly honor in her career.
Off the golf course, Morgan owns a 3.58 GPA in politics and international affairs and was named to the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District Women’s At-Large Team this season. A two-time selection to the WGCA All-America Scholar Team, Morgan is in line for her third career honor this season. She is a member of Lambda Pi Eta, the honor society for communications studies and was the 2022 women’s golf winner of the Pinnacle Award, which goes to the student-athlete with the top GPA on the SoCon championship-winning team. Morgan is also a member of Kappa Delta sorority, which raised money for the Julie Valentine Center, a nonprofit that provides services to sexual assault and child abuse survivors. Morgan also worked with local Girl Scout troops through Kappa Delta.
Slawson is Furman’s 11th winner of the Bob Waters SoCon Male Athlete of the Year award and the first Paladin men’s basketball player to claim the award since SoCon Hall of Famer Clyde Mayes in 1974-75.
Furman’s Frank Selvy Male Athlete of the Year, Slawson was a consensus pick as the SoCon Player of the Year by the league’s men’s basketball coaches and media, earning first-team All-SoCon honors from both organizations for the second straight season. The fifth-year senior averaged 15.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocked shots per game in 2022-23, making him the only player in the league to rank in the top seven of all five of those categories. The 6-7 forward from Summerville, South Carolina, earned Lou Henson Mid-Major All-America honors and NABC All-District 21 first-team distinction in addition to being named to the SoCon All-Tournament Team, claiming SoCon Player of the Month honors in January and February and being named the SoCon Player of the Week on Feb. 6.
Slawson, who was selected to play in the NABC Reese’s Division I All-Star Game at the Final Four, helped Furman to one of the most successful seasons in school history, leading the Paladins to a school-record 28 wins, a share of the SoCon regular-season title, and the 2023 Ingles SoCon Basketball Championship title. Furman’s SoCon tournament crown and accompanying NCAA tournament berth were the Paladins’ first since 1980, but the Paladins weren’t content just to be in the postseason, as the 13th-seeded squad knocked off No. 4 seed Virginia in the first round, 68-67, with Slawson contributing 19 points and 10 rebounds in Furman’s first NCAA tournament victory since 1974.
In June, Slawson would make even more history, as he was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft with the 54th overall pick by the Sacramento Kings. He became Furman’s SoCon-best 16th NBA Draft pick and first since 1984. He was the first SoCon player drafted since 2011.
In the community, Slawson, a communications studies major, volunteered at “Reading Day” at Stone Academy, “Welcome to School Day” and “Rock Your School Day” at Pelham Road Elementary and the “Third Grade Panel Discussions” at East North Street Elementary. He also took part in “Mentor Day” at AJ Whittenburg Elementary School and volunteered with Brothers Restoring Urban Hope (BRUH) and Valiant Player.
Past female winners
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman golfer Anna Morgan has been named the 2022-23 Southern Conference Female Athlete of the Year and Paladin basketball player Jalen Slawson has been voted the Bob Waters Southern Conference Male Athlete of the Year, the league announced Thursday.
The Athlete of the Year Awards are selected annually by the Southern Conference athletics directors and a media member representing each conference school. The award recognizes athletic achievement, academic performance and civic involvement. Prior to 1990-91, the award was selected solely by members of the Southern Conference Sports Media Association. Beginning in 1991-92, the men's award was named after the late Bob Waters, who was Western Carolina's head football coach from 1969-88.
The Furman sweep is just the fourth in the history of the awards and the Paladins’ second in a row. ETSU’s Keith “Mister” Jennings and Nicole Hopson both won in 1990-91 and Mercer’s Will Bagrou and Kahlia Lawrence did so in 2017-18. Furman’s Morgan and Cameron Ponder won last year, with Ponder sharing the men’s award with Chattanooga’s Cole Strange.
Morgan is Furman’s fourth straight SoCon Female Athlete of the Year, following former teammate Natalie Srinivasan, who won in 2019-20 and went on to play on the Epson Tour, and professional Adidas runner Gabbi Jennings, who claimed the honor in 2020-21. Morgan is the first SoCon woman to earn consecutive honors since App State track star Melissa Morrison won in 1991-92 and 1992-93 and is just the third to earn the distinction twice overall. She claims Furman’s 12th SoCon Female Athlete of the Year honor.
Morgan led the league in stroke average for the second straight season with a 72.43 mark over 35 rounds en route to being named the SoCon Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. The senior from Spartanburg, South Carolina, posted a pair of individual wins on the season, taking first at the UNF Collegiate on March 6-7 at 12-under-par and earning medalist honors at the SoCon Women’s Golf Championship on April 16-18 at 2-under. She also helped the Paladins to team titles at the SoCon Championship and the Lady Paladin Invitational, taking runner-up individual honors at Furman’s home tournament on Sept. 23-25. Morgan closed her season with a 10th-place finish at the NCAA Regional Championship in Athens, Georgia, marking her fourth top-10 finish in 11 events in 2022-23.
Furman’s Edna Hartness Female Athlete of the Year for the second straight year, Morgan earned All-SoCon honors for the third straight season. She finished the season as the highest-ranked SoCon women’s golfer at No. 73 nationally and competed in her second straight Augusta National Women's Amateur. She was a two-time SoCon Player of the Week in 2022-23, bringing her career total to a league-record eight selections, and was the SoCon Player of the Month for April, marking her fourth monthly honor in her career.
Off the golf course, Morgan owns a 3.58 GPA in politics and international affairs and was named to the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District Women’s At-Large Team this season. A two-time selection to the WGCA All-America Scholar Team, Morgan is in line for her third career honor this season. She is a member of Lambda Pi Eta, the honor society for communications studies and was the 2022 women’s golf winner of the Pinnacle Award, which goes to the student-athlete with the top GPA on the SoCon championship-winning team. Morgan is also a member of Kappa Delta sorority, which raised money for the Julie Valentine Center, a nonprofit that provides services to sexual assault and child abuse survivors. Morgan also worked with local Girl Scout troops through Kappa Delta.
Slawson is Furman’s 11th winner of the Bob Waters SoCon Male Athlete of the Year award and the first Paladin men’s basketball player to claim the award since SoCon Hall of Famer Clyde Mayes in 1974-75.
Furman’s Frank Selvy Male Athlete of the Year, Slawson was a consensus pick as the SoCon Player of the Year by the league’s men’s basketball coaches and media, earning first-team All-SoCon honors from both organizations for the second straight season. The fifth-year senior averaged 15.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocked shots per game in 2022-23, making him the only player in the league to rank in the top seven of all five of those categories. The 6-7 forward from Summerville, South Carolina, earned Lou Henson Mid-Major All-America honors and NABC All-District 21 first-team distinction in addition to being named to the SoCon All-Tournament Team, claiming SoCon Player of the Month honors in January and February and being named the SoCon Player of the Week on Feb. 6.
Slawson, who was selected to play in the NABC Reese’s Division I All-Star Game at the Final Four, helped Furman to one of the most successful seasons in school history, leading the Paladins to a school-record 28 wins, a share of the SoCon regular-season title, and the 2023 Ingles SoCon Basketball Championship title. Furman’s SoCon tournament crown and accompanying NCAA tournament berth were the Paladins’ first since 1980, but the Paladins weren’t content just to be in the postseason, as the 13th-seeded squad knocked off No. 4 seed Virginia in the first round, 68-67, with Slawson contributing 19 points and 10 rebounds in Furman’s first NCAA tournament victory since 1974.
In June, Slawson would make even more history, as he was selected in the second round of the NBA Draft with the 54th overall pick by the Sacramento Kings. He became Furman’s SoCon-best 16th NBA Draft pick and first since 1984. He was the first SoCon player drafted since 2011.
In the community, Slawson, a communications studies major, volunteered at “Reading Day” at Stone Academy, “Welcome to School Day” and “Rock Your School Day” at Pelham Road Elementary and the “Third Grade Panel Discussions” at East North Street Elementary. He also took part in “Mentor Day” at AJ Whittenburg Elementary School and volunteered with Brothers Restoring Urban Hope (BRUH) and Valiant Player.
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