Three players who had key roles in Northwestern State’s most successful men’s basketball season in a decade have earned spots on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s All-Louisiana Men’s Basketball Team.
Senior guard DeMarcus Sharp was named the All-Louisiana Newcomer of the Year and was a first-team All-Louisiana selection while guard Jalen Hampton took home Freshman of the Year honors on the team, which was selected by state sports information directors and media members.
A 6-foot-3. 180-pound Missouri State transfer, Sharp led the Southland Conference in scoring (19.5 points per game) and ranked in the top 12 in the league in eight categories. The 2022-23 Southland Conference Player of the Year became the first Demon to score 40 points in a game since Dec. 4, 1976, when he poured in 40 in a Feb. 25 loss at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Sharp finished the season with six other games where he scored at least 30 points and cleared the 20-point mark 14 times. He had consecutive 30-point games in wins at Stephen F. Austin (Dec. 1) and against Southern Miss, handing the then-unbeaten Golden Eagles their first loss on a buzzer-beating, step-back jump shot.
His 644 points are the fourth-most in NSU single-season history, trailing Zeek Woodley (711, 2014-15), Billy Reynolds (686, 1976-77) and Jimmy Leach (641, 1958-59). Sharp finished the season with nine top-100 individual statistical marks nationally. In addition to his Southland Player of the Year acclaim, Sharp was a four-time Southland Conference Player of the Week, a finalist for the Lou Henson National Mid-Major Player of the Year Award and a first-team NABC All-District selection.
Sharp is the first Demon to earn All-Louisiana Newcomer of the Year honors since DeQuan Hicks in 2012-13.
Hampton, a St. Louis native, earned the top nod among state freshmen after a season in which he led Northwestern State with six double-doubles, ranking third in the Southland Conference.
Hampton’s 3.36 offensive rebounds per game ranked him third in the Southland and 20th nationally in that category. Hampton, a 6-6, 205-pound, was the No. 2 freshman offensive rebounder nationally, trailing only Marshall’s 7-1 Micah Handlogten.
Overall, Hampton ranked fourth on the NSU roster in scoring at 10.2 points per game while grabbing a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game. Hampton connected on 65.1 percent of his field goal attempts, the No. 3 single-season shooting performance in school history. He joined Sharp on the Southland Conference All-Tournament Team after averaging 12 points and 10.5 rebounds per game in the Demons’ two games in the tournament.
Hampton posted eight double-figure rebounding games, highlighted by a career-high 15 in an overtime win at Central Arkansas on Nov. 26. He added 20 double-figure scoring games, including a pair of games where he hit the 20-point mark – topped by a 22-point performance in a Jan. 12 win against McNeese. His performance made him one of six players to earn honorable mention honors from the voters.
Record-setting 3-point marksman Ja’Monta Black gave the Demons a third honoree, earning second-team honors.
Black, a 6-4 senior from Columbia, Missouri, connected on an NSU single-season record 122 3-pointers, the second-most made 3-pointers in Southland Conference history. A two-time Southland Conference Player of the Week, Black ranked fourth nationally in total 3-pointers made, 3-pointers made per game (3.81) and in 3-point attempts (326).
Black ranked second on the team in scoring, averaging 15.4 points per game. He matched Northwestern State’s single-game record of nine 3-pointers in a Jan. 26 win against Houston Christian, matching Kenny McMillon’s mark from Feb. 20, 1993. It was during that game Black broke Jalan West’s single-season NSU record of 86 3-pointers, which had stood since the 2014-15 season.
Black’s game against HCU was one of five games in which he knocked down at least seven 3-pointers in a game. Three of those came in games where Black set his career high with 31 points – in a Dec. 10 win against ULM, a Jan. 19 overtime win at Southeastern and against HCU on Jan. 26.
2022-23 LSWA All-Louisiana Men’s Basketball Teams
Player of the Year: Jordan Brown, F, UL Lafayette
Newcomer of the Year: DeMarcus Sharp, Northwestern State
Freshman of the Year: Jalen Hampton, Northwestern State
Coach of the Year: Bob Marlin, UL Lafayette
First Team
Jordan Brown, F, Jr., UL Lafayette, Roseville, California
19.3 points per game, 8.6 rebounds per game, Lou Henson National Mid-Major Player of the Year
DeMarcus Sharp, G, Sr., Northwestern State, Charleston, Missouri
19.5 points per game, 5.0 assists per game, Southland Conference Player of the Year
Jalen Brooks, G, Sr., LSU-Shreveport, Shreveport, Louisiana
22.5 points per game, 11.2 rebounds per game, NAIA All-American
KJ Williams, F, Sr., LSU, Cleveland, Mississippi
17.7 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game
Jalen Cook, G, So., Tulane, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
19.9 points per game, 4.9 assists per game, Two-Time American Athletic Conference Player of the Week
Second Team
Boogie Anderson, G, Gr., Southeastern, Chandler, Arizona
14.6 points per game, 4.4 assists per game, First-Team All-Southland Conference
Caleb Huffman, G, 5Y, Nicholls, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
16.5 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game, First-Team All-Southland Conference
Jalen Galloway, F, Sr., Loyola, Meridian, Idaho
17.7 points per game, 7.6 rebounds per game, NAIA Second-Team All-American
Cameron Christon, G, Gr., Grambling, Allen, Texas
13.0 points per game, 5.4 rebounds per game, Southwestern Athletic Conference Player of the Year
Ja’Monta Black, G, Sr., Northwestern State, Columbia, Missouri
15.4 points per game, 122 3-pointers made, Second-Team All-Southland Conference
Third Team
Jordan Johnson, G, Jr., New Orleans, Memphis, Tennessee
18 points per game, 48.2 3-point field goal percentage, First-Team NABC All-District 22
Jaylen Forbes, G, Jr., Tulane, Florence, Mississippi
18.5 points per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, Second-Team All-American Athletic Conference
Xavier Reaves, F, Gr., Xavier, Burtonsville, Maryland
13.2 points per game, 8.7 rebounds per game, Red River Athletic Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player
Seth Thomas, F, Sr., Centenary, Kilgore, Texas
15.2 points per game, 7.5 rebounds per game, First-Team All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
Christian Shumate, F, So., McNeese, Chicago, Illinois
15.1 points per game, 9.7 rebounds per game, Second-Team All-Southland Conference
Honorable Mention (Appeared on at least 25 percent of ballots)
Isaiah Crawford, F, Jr., Louisiana Tech, Fort Worth, Texas
Kevin Cross, F, Jr., Tulane, Little Rock, Arkansas
Jalen Hampton, F, Fr., Northwestern State, St. Louis, Missouri
Bailey Hardy, G, Sr., Louisiana Christian, Lake Charles, Louisiana
Latrell Jones, G, 5Y, Nicholls, New Orleans, Louisiana
Greg Williams Jr, G, Sr., UL Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana
