UNA guard, Lee grad Jacari Lane named mid-major player of year finalist

FLORENCE — North Alabama junior guard Jacari Lane is a finalist for the Lou Henson Award, honoring the top player in mid-major college basketball. 

Two other players from Alabama schools are also on the list: Sun Belt Player of the Year Tayton Conerway of Troy, and Conference USA Player of the Year Jaron Pierre Jr. of Jacksonville State.

CollegeInsider.com announced the finalists for the 2024-2025 season this week.

A 10-member committee, made up of current and former head coaches and two senior staff members of CollegeInsider.com, determines the winner of the annual award.

Back-to-back All-ASUN

Lane is the only back-to-back first team all-conference honoree in the Atlantic Sun Conference this season. The Huntsville native and Lee High School graduate averaged 17.4 points per game and finished with 139 assists, ranking among the ASUN leaders in both categories. Lane was also named to the ASUN All-Tournament team.

While excelling on the offensive end, Lane was also a strong defensive presence with 45 steals and five blocks, most coming late in the season in clutch moments. He also finished with a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio to rank sixth in the ASUN.

Just a junior, Lane is already the all-time leading scorer in UNA’s Division I era with 1,482 career points. This ranks fourth on the all-time list at UNA behind a trio of UNA Hall of Famers — Otis Boddie, Dabbs Earnest, and Steve Martin – considered by many to be the greatest players in UNA history.

In the best season in UNA’s Division I history, Lane scored 524 points with 139 assists. He set the Division I school records for scoring, assists, scoring average, most makes, and best three-point percentage (among players with over 100 attempts). Lane is the first UNA player to make 200 field goals in a season as a Division I player.

Henson Award

The Lou Henson 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 made 19 NCAA appearances and four NIT appearances. Henson passed away on July 25, 2020.

The 2025 award will be announced in San Antonio, Texas, site of the NCAA Men’s Division I National Championships.