GREENVILLE, S.C. – For the first time in six years, Carson-Newman's men's basketball program has produced an all-region player.
Junior forward John Zhao (Sevierville, Tenn.) has been named to the Division II Conference Commissioners' Association (D2CCA) All-Southeast Region Second Team, the organization announced Friday morning.
Zhao is C-N's first all-region honoree since Charles Clark earned a third all-region honor in 2017-18. Carson-Newman produced an all-region honoree every year from 2013-18. Zhao nets the eighth regional accolade for head coach Chuck Benson. The Sevier County product joins Charles Clark (three times), Antoine Davis (twice), Ish Sanders and Carson Brooks as Eagles to have earned all-region honors under Benson's guidance.
Zhao turned in the most efficient effort in the SAC this season. He finished fifth in the league in scoring at 19.1 points per game while averaging 61.5 percent shooting from the field and 52.5 percent shooting from three. He ranks 10th nationally in efficiency and second in the league, while topping the conference in three-point efficiency. Zhao leads the nation in three-point efficiency. He resets the program's single-season record for three-point efficiency with his 52.5 percent mark. Zhao finishes the year with 84 threes made tied for the sixth-most in a single season in school history.
He is one of four players in NCAA Division II history to shoot 52 percent or better from three for a season with at least 80 triples made in a year.
He tallied five weekly honors on the year, two from the league and three from the Tennessee Sportswriters Association. Zhao won honors from the TSWA on Feb. 13, Jan. 29 and Dec. 18.
Over a six-game stretch following a loss to Wingate on Jan. 20, Zhao averaged 27.33 points per game. That camee with some stupefying efficiency. He had a 67.9/61.3/84.4 slash line. He was 27-of-44 from deep in that stretch, an average of 4.5 threes per game.
He had his first-career double-double, with a 23-point, 10-rebound night in the win at Mars Hill on Feb. 9.
Zhao has scored in double digits in 26 games this season with 16, 20-point efforts and five, 30-point games.
He has the most 30-point games in a season by an Eagle since Charles Clarks' six in his SAC Player of the Year campaign in 2016-17.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Pos. Name School Year Hometown Conf.
G KJ Jones II Emmanuel Sr. Atlanta, Ga. CC
26.4 PPG, 4.1 APG, 1.6 SPG, Conference Carolinas Player of the Year, Bevo Francis Top 50 Watch List, Trevor Hudgins Award Top 15 Watch List
FIRST TEAM
Pos. Name School Year Hometown Conf.
G KJ Jones II Emmanuel Sr. Atlanta, Ga. CC
G Donell Nixon Wingate Sr. Buford, Ga. SAC
G Tyler Johnson USC Aiken Jr. Athens, Ga. PBC
F Martez Brown Lincoln Memorial Sr. Bessemer, Ala. SAC
G Tehree Horn USC Aiken Sr. Toledo, Ohio PBC
SECOND TEAM
Pos. Name School Year Hometown Conf.
G John Zhao Carson-Newman Jr. Sevierville, Tenn. SAC
G Andre Leavell Coker Sr. Canton, Ohio SAC
G Daylan Askew Chowan Jr. Ahoskie, N.C. CC
G Uzziah Dawkins Converse Sr. Spartanburg, S.C. CC
F Frank Champion North Georgia Jr. Lithonia, Ga. PBC
F Josh Massey Wingate Jr. Monroe, N.C. SAC
