The Chattanooga Mocs men's basketball team earned a total of five 2023-24 All-Southern Conference selections with Trey Bonham's First Team honor and Jan Zidek's Sixth Man of the Year laurel highlighting the list, as the league office announced its winners Wednesday afternoon ahead of this weekend's tournament.
Joining Zidek, senior guard Trey Bonham was named to the All-Southern Conference First Team while fellow backcourt guard Honor Huff earned All-Southern Conference Second Team laurels. Sam Alexis rounded out the selections with a spot on both the All-Southern Conference Third Team and All-Defensive Team.
With Bonham's first team selection, Chattanooga has featured a first-team representative on either the media or coaches' polls for the fourth-straight season, marking the longest active streak in the conference. Jake Stephens (2022-23) and Malachi Smith (2021-22 & 2020-21) claim the previous three selections on the top team.
*Formerly comprised of a "Coaches" poll and a "Media" poll voted on by the Southern Conference Sports Media Association (SCSMA), the award teams are now grouped into one with votes stemming from each league head coach and one additional staff/media/etc. member associated with the team. Neither party is able to vote on coaches or student-athletes that they primarily cover.
Jan Zidek, Gr., Forward – SoCon Sixth Man of the Year
In a newly appointed award for the league this season, there was no better fit for the sixth-man honor as Zidek has been a force in his 17 appearances off the bench. In those contests, Zidek has averaged 10.4 points and 3.1 rebounds per game while shooting 45.9% (61-133) from the field in 18.8 minutes of floor time.
For the season, Zidek has appeared in all 31 games and sits second on the team in total points (353) and 3PTM (45), third in scoring average (11.4), and fifth in both FG% (47.9%) and 3PT% (35.2%). During last week's win over Mercer, Zidek surpassed the 1,200 career-point mark after racking up 872 in four years at Pepperdine (2019-23) before arriving in the Scenic City for one final year.
Trey Bonham, Sr., Guard – All-SoCon First Team
Bonham ranked among the league leaders this season during conference play in numerous categories including points per game (16.4, 7th), assists per game (3.8, 6th), three-point percentage (42.5%, 7th), field-goal percentage (52.3%, 9th), free-throw percentage (84.6%, 5th) and steals per game (1.8, 6th).
In 16 games during SoCon action, Bonham posted five 20-point scoring efforts and featured a career-tying 31-point (10-16 FG, 4-7 3FG, 7-7 FT) and seven-assist performance during a huge road win at UNCG back on February 10. In the game prior on February 8, Bonham nearly notched a triple-double with 15 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds against his former team VMI in his return to Lexington.
Bonham earned All-SoCon Third Team (Coaches & Media) honors back in 2021-22 during what would be his final season at VMI before transferring to Florida. He was also named to the All-Freshman Team following his rookie campaign with the Keydets in 2020-21.
Honor Huff, So., Guard – All-SoCon Second Team
Huff has been one of the league's top scorers for the majority of the 2023-24 season while his three-point attack this season has garnered historical significance within the program ranks. Huff ranks fourth in the SoCon with a season 17.6 points-per-game total while his 105 three-pointers are tops in the league and fourth-most in NCAA DI basketball entering play on Wednesday.
The sophomore became just the fourth Moc in program history to surpass the 100 3PTM mark in a single season and the first since Stephen McDowell knocked down a program record 135 in 2008-09. Huff has totaled 547 points this season which ties Derrick Krice (1990-91) for 17th most in a single season in program history.
During his freshman season at VMI in 2021-22, Huff was named to the All-SoCon Freshman Team after averaging 10.0 points while appearing in all 32 games to help the Keydets notch consecutive .500 seasons for the first time since 1997-99. He was named to the 2023-24 Preseason All-SoCon team ahead of the current campaign.
Sam Alexis, So., Forward – All-Southern Conference Third Team & All-Defensive Team
Alexis has experienced a breakout year in his sophomore season, nearly averaging a double-double behind a 10.4 points-per-game and 9.1 rebounds-per-game total. While his rebounds-per-game tally ranks fourth in the SoCon, Alexis ranks second in blocks (63) and blocks per game (2.0) while sitting eighth in field-goal percentage (53.8%).
An all-around presence in the paint, Alexis is currently one of just five players in NCAA DI basketball who have averaged at least 10.0 points/9.0 rebounds/2.0 blocks per game while shooting 50.0% or better from the floor. His 63 blocks this season are seventh-most in a single season at UTC while his 82 career swats are ninth on the all-time program list.
Alexis was tabbed to the 2023 SoCon All-Freshman Team (Coaches) following his rookie season last year playing alongside fellow big Jake Stephens.
2023-24 All-Southern Conference Awards
Malcolm U. Pitt Player of the Year
Vonterius Woolbright, Sr., G, Western Carolina
Newcomer of the Year
Rylan Jones, Gr., G, Samford
Sixth Man of the Year
Jan Zidek, Gr., F, Chattanooga
Defensive Player of the Year
Kobe Langley, Gr., G, UNCG
Anton Foy Coach of the Year
Bucky McMillan, Samford
First team
JP Pegues, Jr., G, Furman
Mikeal Brown-Jones, Sr., F, UNCG
Achor Achor, Jr., F, Samford
Trey Bonham, Sr., G, Chattanooga
Vonterius Woolbright, Sr., G, Western Carolina
Second team
Marcus Foster, Sr., G, Furman
Jalyn McCreary, Sr., F, Mercer
Keyshaun Langley, Gr., G, UNCG
Honor Huff, So., G, Chattanooga
Corey Tripp, Jr., G, Wofford
Third team
Jaden Seymour, Jr., F/C, ETSU
Kobe Langley, Gr., G, UNCG
Rylan Jones, Gr., G, Samford
A.J. Staton-McCray, Jr., G, Samford
Sam Alexis, So., F/C, ChattanoogaÂ
All-Defensive team
Quentin Millora-Brown, Gr., F, The Citadel
Jadyn Parker, Jr., F, ETSU
Kobe Langley, Gr., G, UNCG
A.J. Staton-McCray, Jr., G, Samford
Sam Alexis, So., F/C, Chattanooga
