Dayton’s Holmes a finalist for another national award

Junior forward leads A-10 in scoring

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

Thirty players from across the nation, including Dayton Flyers junior forward DaRon Holmes II, were named to the Naismith Trophy Men’s College Player of the Year Midseason Team on Thursday.

The Naismith Trophy is presented annually to the best player in college basketball. Dayton forward Obi Toppin won the award in 2020.

Holmes, the highest-ranked recruit to sign with Dayton in this century, has racked up individual accolades in three seasons: the A-10 Rookie of the Year award in 2022; an A-10 first team honor in 2023; and the A-10 tournament Most Outstanding Player award in 2023. This season, he’s won the A-10 Player of the Week Award three times.

Holmes leads the A-10 with 19.6 points per game. He ranks sixth in the country in dunks (54). He’s Dayton’s all-time leader in blocked shots (201) and dunks (225). He ranks 18th in UD history in scoring (1,543).

Holmes is also a finalist for two other national awards: the Wooden Award, another national player of the year honor, and the Karl Malone Award, which honors the nation’s best power forward.

Holmes is also on the watch list for the Karl Malone Award, which honors the best power forward in college basketball

The other players on the Naismith Midseason Team are: Max Abmas, of Texas; Armando Bacot, of North Carolina; Johni Broom, of Auburn; Boo Buie, of Northwestern; Devin Carter, of Providence; L.J. Cryer, of Houston; Johnell Davis, of Florida Atlantic; RJ Davis, of North Carolina; Hunter Dickinson, of Kansas; Zach Edey, of Purdue; Kyle Filipowski, of Duke; PJ Hall, of Clemson; David Jones, of Memphis; Dalton Knecht, of Tennessee; Tyler Kolek, of Marquette; Jaedon LeDee, of San Diego State; Tamin Lipsey, of Iowa State; Caleb Love, of Arizona; Kevin McKullar, Jr., of Kansas; Tristen Newton, of Connecticut; Antonio Reeves, of Kentucky; Baylor Scheierman, of Creighton; Mark Sears, of Alabama; Jamal Shead, of Houston; KJ Simpson, of Colorado; Braden Smith, of Purdue; Isaiah Stevens, of Colorado State; Wade Taylor IV, of Texas A&M; and Tyson Walker of Michigan State.

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