BOSTON — In advance of the NCAA Tournament, both
Logan Johnson and
Aidan Mahaney have been named to finalists for major national awards. Johnson follows up his midseason watch list honor for the Lou Henson Award by being named a finalist, and Mahaney is one of the finalists for the Kyle Macy Freshman of the Year award.
The award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in division I college basketball, honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head 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 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.
Johnson was named the WCC's Defensive Player of the Year for the first time in his career, getting recognition for being one of the best defensive players in the country. His overall defensive game has taken a huge step forward this season, which has helped lead the Gaels to the fourth-best scoring defense in the NCAA. Johnson 147 steals as a Gael, the fifth most in program history, and leads the team with 51 this year. He also has set a career-best in rebounding average at 4.8 per game. His all-around game has improved in his fifth collegiate season, leading the Gaels in points per game (14.7), assists (121), and free throws (99).
Two others from the West Coast Conference join Johnson on the list, with Brandin Podziemski of Santa Clara and Cam Shelton of LMU being named finalists. They are the lone players from the state of California to appear as finalists.
The Kyle Macy Award, which is presented annually to the top freshman in Division I college basketball, is named for a guard who starred as a freshman for Purdue. The 1975 Indiana "Mr. Basketball" played his freshman season at Purdue University, averaging 13.8 points per game while leading the Boilermakers in free throws (85.9 percent for the season). He started in 25 of 27 games, helping them to a 16-11 season record. He later transferred to Kentucky and became a three-time All-American and a national champion in 1978.
Aidan Mahaney was named First Team All-WCC as a freshman, which also puts him on the All-Freshman team in the conference. This puts Mahaney in rare air, joining Patty Mills as the only other Gael to be named to the All-WCC team as a freshman. He is the leading scorer for a freshman in the conference (14.5 points per game), a rank that is top-15 in the entire NCAA. He owns the second-most 20-point games by a Saint Mary's freshman, again behind Mills, and ends the conference tournament shooting 41.2% from beyond the arc. That puts Mahaney as one of five freshmen in the NCAA averaging over 14 points per game and shooting over 40% from three-point range.
Mahaney is the lone freshman from the West Coast Conference named to the finalist list, which features 25 players from around the country. Adem Bona of UCLA and Tre White of USC are the other two freshmen who play in California on the list.
No Gael has earned a postseason Lou Henson award since 2018, when Jock Landale was named a Lou Henson All-American. This is the first time that a Gael has been named a finalist for the Kyle Macy Award.
Saint Mary's will now await Selection Sunday on March 12 to find out where they are playing in the NCAA Tournament. There will be an official watch party inside University Credit Union Pavilion on Sunday, beginning at 2:00 pm. The bracket reveal show on CBS begins at 3:00 pm, and will run until 4:00 pm. The event on campus is free to the public.
#GaelsRise
