DAVIS, Calif. — College Insider announced UC Davis men's basketball guard
Elijah Pepper as one of the 40 names to the 2023-24 Lou Henson mid-season Watch List.
The senior from Selah, Washington, Pepper has been one of the most well-rounded players in the entire country this season.
Averaging 21.9 points per game which ranks seventh in the country, Pepper has hit another gear during the first two weeks of conference play.
After breaking UC Davis' all-time career scoring record earlier in the season, he has continued to elevate his game to new heights. Through four games of Big West action, Pepper is averaging 27.3 points per game, while making 4.8 threes per-game. Only one other player in the Big West is making more than three, three-pointers per game.
Not only is Pepper showing up every game offensively, he has also displayed his importance to UC Davis' No. 1 ranked scoring defense in the conference. The Aggies are limiting opponents to the fewest points per game and possess a league's best +14.0 margin through the first two weeks of Big West play.
Averaging nearly 1.5 steals per game, Pepper also recently broke UC Davis' all-time career steals record. In addition to his nose for the ball in helping generate turnovers, Pepper is averaging 4.4 rebounds per game from the guard position.
ABOUT THE AWARD
The Lou Henson award honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons.
Coach 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.
Coach Henson passed away on July 25, 2020.
Players on teams from the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, CUSA, Horizon, Independents, 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 annual award is determined by a 10-member voting committee, which consists of current and former head coaches, as well as two senior staff members of collegeinsider.com.
The 2024 award will be announced in Phoenix, AZ, site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship.
LOU HENSON AWARD MID-SEASON WATCH LIST
Tyson Acuff 6-4 Eastern Michigan
De'Sean Allen-Eikens 6-6 CSUN
Rasheed Bello 6-0 Purdue Fort Wayne
T.J. Bickerstaff 6-9 James Madison
Jalen Blackmon 6-3 Stetson
Tommy Bruner 6-1 Denver
Terrell Burden 5-10 Kennesaw State
Clarence Davis 6-6 New Hampshire
Tucker DeVries 6-7 Drake
Terrence Edwards Jr. 6-6 James Madison
Enrique Freeman 6-7 Akron
Tyon Grant-Foster 6-7 Grand Canyon
Marcus Hill 6-4 Bowling Green
Xavier Johnson 6-1 Southern Illinois
Dillon Jones 6-6 Weber State
Xaivian Lee 6-3 Princeton
Malik Mack 6-1 Harvard
Issac McBride 6-1 Oral Roberts
Duke Miles 6-3 High Point
Riley Minix 6-7 Morehead State
Ajay Mitchell 6-5 UC Santa Barbara
Jonathan Mogbo 6-8 San Francisco
Drew Pember 6-11 UNC Asheville
Elijah Pepper 6-4 UC Davis
Caden Pierce 6-7 Princeton
Xavier Rice 6-3 Monmouth
Kyle Rode 6-7 Liberty
Reyne Smith 6-2 Charleston
TreVon Spillers 6-7 Appalachian State
Isaiah Swope 5-10 Indiana State
KyKy Tandy 6-2 Jacksonville State
Jamarii Thomas 6-0 Norfolk State
Tyler Thomas 6-3 Hofstra
Trey Townsend 6-7 Oakland
Marques Warrick 6-2 NKU
Shahada Wells 6-0 McNeese
Trazarien White 6-7 UNCW
Amari Williams 6-10 Drexel
Danny Wolf 7-0 Yale
Vonterius Woolbright 6-6 Western Carolina
