Iona’s E.J. Crawford, Siena’s Jalen Pickett Named to Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List
EDISON, N.J. (Nov. 6, 2019) – Iona’s E.J. Crawford and Siena’s Jalen Pickett represent the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) on the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List.
The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I mid-major player.
The award honors Henson, the former Illinois and New Mexico State 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.
Crawford finds himself on the Preseason Watch List after a junior campaign that earned him a spot on the 2018-19 All-MAAC First Team. He averaged 17.7 points and 5.1 rebounds for the Gaels on their run to the program’s fourth straight MAAC Championship. The senior was a unanimous selection to the Preseason All-MAAC First Team to start the 2019-20 season. He’ll see game action when Iona opens the season at La Salle on Nov. 9 at 4:00 p.m.
Pickett, the MAAC Preseason Player of the Year and a Preseason All-MAAC First Team selection, adds this to his list of preseason accolades. The sophomore standout led the Saints to a season-opening win over American last night, scoring a game-high 22 points. Pickett was the unanimous choice for MAAC Rookie of the Year a season ago, averaging 15.8 points and a league-leading 6.7 assists.
The 2019-20 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award will be announced in April 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia, the site of the Men's Division I NCAA Basketball Championship.
About the 2020 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships:
The MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships return to New Jersey on March 10-14, 2020 at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. To stay up to date on MAAC basketball, visit
http://maacsports.com/basketball and follow
@MAACHoops on Twitter.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 39
th year of competition during the 2019-20 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.