BOSTON, Ma. (March 13, 2025) – CollegeInsider.com announced the finalists for the 2024-25 Lou Henson award on Tuesday, which is presented annually to the top player in mid-major in college basketball. North Alabama junior guard Jacari Lane is on the list.
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.
Lane is the only back-to-back first team all-conference honoree in the Atlantic Sun Conference this season. The Huntsville native averaged 17.4 points per game and finished with 139 assists, ranking among the ASUN leaders in both categories.
While excelling on the offensive end, Lane was also a strong defensive presence with 45 steals and five blocks. Most of his blocks came late in the season in key moments. He also finished with a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio to rank sixth in the ASUN.
Though he's only a junior, Lane is already the all-time leading scorer of 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. Many argue those three are the greatest players in UNA history.
Lane finished the greatest season in UNA's Division I history, scoring 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.
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.
The 2025 award will be announced in San Antonio, TX, site of the men's Division I Basketball Championship.
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