BOSTON – Northern Kentucky men's basketball student-athlete
Drew McDonald was named to the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List. The award, which will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Awards Event in San Antonio on March 31, 2018, is given annually to the top mid-major basketball player in NCAA Division I.
Lou Henson coached for 41 years and accumulated 779 Division I wins, which ranked sixth all-time when he left the game in 2005. Henson is also one of only 12 coaches to take two schools to the Final Four.
McDonald, a junior forward from Cold Spring, Ky., helped lead NKU to an appearance in the 2017 NCAA Division I Tournament in the team's first season of eligibility after completing a four-year reclassification process. He recorded 16.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in 2016-17, both of which ranked first on the team. He also shot .473 from the field and .384 from behind the arc en route to earning All-Horizon League first team, all-tourney and all-academic honors.
Earlier this season, McDonald was selected as the 2017-18 Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year. The Norse were picked to finish second as a team in the poll.
NKU opens the regular season against fellow 2017 NCAA Tournament participant East Tennessee State on Friday, Nov. 10. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at BB&T Arena, and the game will also be broadcast on ESPN3 with live streaming available on computers, tablets, smart phones and streaming devices through WatchESPN and the ESPN App.
2017-18 Lou Henson Preseason Watch List
Bryce Aiken 6-0 So. Harvard
Ehab Amin 6-4 Sr. Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Trae Bell-Haynes 6-2 Sr. Vermont
Jarrell Brantley 6-7 Jr. Charleston
Joshua Braun 6-4 Sr. Grand Canyon
Bogdan Bliznyuk 6-6 Sr. Eastern Washington
Joe Chealey 6-4 Sr. Charleston
Chris Clemons 5-9 Jr. Campbell
Xavier Cooks 6-8 Sr. Winthrop
Mike Daum 6-9 Jr. South Dakota State
Dikembe Dixson 6-7 So. UIC
Nana Foulland 6-9 Sr. Bucknell
Brandon Goodwin 6-2 Sr. FGCU
Tyler Hall 6-4 Jr. Montana State
Jalen Hayes 6-7 Sr. Oakland
Kevin Hervey 6-9 Sr. UT Arlington
Ria'n Holland 6-0 Sr. Mercer
Jordan Howard 5-11 Sr. Central Arkansas
Alzie Johnson 6-9 Sr. Missouri State
Tiwian Kendley 6-5 Sr. Morgan State
John Konchar 6-5 Jr. Fort Wayne
Anthony Lamb 6-6 So. Vermont
Jock Landale 6-11 Jr. Saint Mary's
Austin Luke 6-3 Sr. Belmont
Jairus Lyles 6-2 Sr. UMBC
Fletcher Magee 6-4 Jr. Wofford
Makai Mason 6-1 Sr. Yale
Garrison Mathews 6-5 Jr. Lipscomb
Nick Mayo 6-9 Jr. Eastern Kentucky
Drew McDonald 6-7 Jr. Northern Kentucky
Chima Moneke 6-6 Sr. UC Davis
Matt Mooney 6-3 Jr. South Dakota
Cameron Morse 6-3 Sr. Youngstown State
Tyler Nelson 6-3 Sr. Fairfield
David Nicholls 6-0 Jr. Albany
Kahron Ross 5-11 Sr. Lehigh
Victor Sanders 6-5 Sr. Idaho
Jaelan Sanford 6-4 Jr. Toledo
Devin Sibley 6-2 Sr. Furman
D'Marcus Simmonds 6-3 Sr. Georgia State
Ike Smith 6-4 Jr. Georgia Southern
Jonathan Stark 6-0 Sr. Murray State
Myles Stephens 6-5 Jr. Princeton
MaCio Teague 6-3 So. UNC-Asheville
Ahmad Thomas 6-3 Sr. UNC-Asheville
Jordon Varnado 6-6 Jr. Troy
Jaylin Walker 6-1 Jr. Kent State
Wyatt Walker 6-9 Jr. Samford
Bryce Washington 6-6 Sr. Louisiana
Thomas Wilder 6-3 Sr. Western Michigan
Justin Wright-Foreman 6-1 Jr. Hofstra
