Georgia State’s Hunter Repeats as Sun Belt Player of the Year, Harrow Earns First Team Honors

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

Georgia State junior R.J. Hunter became just the fourth student-athlete in Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball history to earn back-to-back Player of the Year awards as announced by the conference office on Tuesday.

Hunter, along with senior Ryan Harrow both earned All-Sun Belt First-Team honors for the second-consecutive year. Hunter is the first three-time all-conference honoree in school history, while Harrow became just the fourth two-time first-team honoree. The only others to earn multiple first-team all-conference recognition in a career are Shernard Long and Nate Williams.

Hunter is the first Panther to earn multiple player of the year honors in a career. He led Georgia State to its second-consecutive Sun Belt Conference regular-season title this season after he finished second in the league in scoring at 19.7 points per game and fourth in assists per game at 3.8. He ranks 18^th in the country in points per game and 14^th in total points (611). He has scored in double figures in all but two games this season and set the Georgia State career scoring mark on Jan. 24. He scored a season-high 37 points in a 77-72 win vs. Troy on Jan. 10, which is tied for the highest single-game scoring performance in the conference this season.

Harrow leads the league in scoring this season at 20.2 points per game. The senior is also second in the conference in assists per game (4.0) and eighth in field goal percentage (.506). Harrow ranks fourth in the conference with a .398 3-point field goal percentage and is fifth with a 1.9 assist to turnover ratio.

“It is great to see R.J. and Ryan honored by the coaches in the Sun Belt,” head coach Ron Hunter said. “Each has had a great season and have stepped up when we needed them most. They are helping to build something special at Georgia State and I am glad they were able to be honored in his fashion.”

This marks the third-straight year that Hunter has earned first-team all-conference honors after being recognized by the CAA as a freshman. He earned three Sun Belt Player of the Week honors this season, added to a pair of honors last season. Harrow also earned player of the week honors last month.

Georgia State will open the Sun Belt tournament on Saturday as the No. 1 seed having earned a double-bye into the semifinals. The Panthers will play at 2 p.m. ET against the winner of Game 3 of the tournament. All games of the tournament will be carried by ESPN3. The championship game will tip at 1 p.m. on Selection Sunday and will be televised nationally on ESPN2.

2014-15 SUN BELT MEN’S BASKETBALL AWARD WINNERS

Sun Belt First Team All-Conference

Jelani Hewitt (Georgia Southern, Sr., Guard)

Ryan Harrow (Georgia State, R-Sr., Guard)

R.J. Hunter (Georgia State, Jr., Guard)

Shawn Long (UL Lafayette, Jr., Forward)

Tylor Ongwae (UL Monroe, Sr., Forward)

Second Team All-Conference

Frank Eaves (Appalachian State, Jr., Guard)

Anthony Livingston (Arkansas State, So., Forward)

Ken Williams (South Alabama, So., Guard)

Lonnie McClanahan (UT Arlington, Sr., Guard)

Emani Gant (Texas State, Jr., Forward)

Third Team All-Sun Belt Conference

Josh Hagins (UALR, Jr., Guard)

Trent Wiedeman (Georgia Southern, Sr., Center)

Jay Wright (UL Lafayette, So., Guard)

Majok Deng (UL Monroe, Jr., Forward)

Wesley Person (Troy, Fr., Guard)

Player of the Year

R.J. Hunter (Georgia State, Jr., Guard)