Metro Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The Metro Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year was an award given to the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Athletic (Metro) Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1976–77 season and was discontinued after the 1994–95 season. In 1995 the Metro Conference merged with the Great Midwest Conference to form Conference USA.

Metro Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Awarded forthe most outstanding basketball player in the Metro Conference
CountryUnited States
History
First award1977
Final award1995

There were three ties in the award's history, in 1978, 1981 and 1988. One player, Darrell Griffith of Louisville, was also named the national player of the year (1980) by being presented the John R. Wooden Award.

Louisville represents the most all-time winners with eight. The second most belong to Southern Miss with three, all of which belong to Clarence Weatherspoon. Weatherspoon was the only three-time winner of the award, while two others earned it twice (Keith Lee and Clifford Rozier).

Co-Players of the Year
* Awarded a national player of the year award:
Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79)
UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96)
Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present)
John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present)
Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Metro Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

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Darrell Griffith was the only Metro Conference Player of the Year (POY) to also win a National POY award—the Wooden Award in 1979–80.
 
George McCloud won the award in 1989 as a player for Florida State University.
Season Player School Position Class Reference
1976–77 Gary Yoder Cincinnati SG Senior [1]
1977–78 Harry Davis Florida State SF Senior [2][3]
Rick Wilson Louisville SG/PG Senior [2][3]
1978–79 Pat Cummings Cincinnati C Senior [4]
1979–80 Darrell Griffith* Louisville SG Senior [5]
1980–81 David Burns Saint Louis PG Senior [6]
Derek Smith Louisville SG Junior [6]
1981–82 Keith Lee Memphis PF/C Freshman [5]
1982–83 Rodney McCray Louisville SF Senior [7]
1983–84 John "Hot Rod" Williams Tulane PF/C Junior [8]
1984–85 Keith Lee (2) Memphis PF/C Senior [9]
1985–86 Dell Curry Virginia Tech SF Senior [10]
1986–87 Herbert Crook Louisville SF/SG Junior [11]
1987–88 Bimbo Coles Virginia Tech PG Sophomore [12][13]
Pervis Ellison Louisville C Junior [12][13]
1988–89 George McCloud Florida State SG/SF Senior [14]
1989–90 Clarence Weatherspoon Southern Miss PF Sophomore [15]
1990–91 Clarence Weatherspoon (2) Southern Miss PF Junior [15]
1991–92 Clarence Weatherspoon (3) Southern Miss PF Senior [15]
1992–93 Clifford Rozier Louisville C Junior [16]
1993–94 Clifford Rozier (2) Louisville C Senior [17]
1994–95 Jarvis Lang Charlotte PF Senior [18]

Winners by school

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School (year joined) Winners Years
Louisville (1975) 8 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994
Southern Miss (1982) 3 1990, 1991, 1992
Cincinnati (1975) 2 1977, 1979
Florida State (1976) 2 1978, 1989
Memphis (1975) 2 1982, 1985
Virginia Tech (1979) 2 1986, 1988
Charlotte (1991) 1 1995
Saint Louis (1975) 1 1981
Tulane (1975) 1 1984

References

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  1. ^ "Gary Yoder Named Top Metro Cager". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, Indiana. March 16, 1977. p. 55. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b Blankenship, Bob (March 3, 1978). "Can 'Noles ice title in cool Cincy?". Tallahassee Democrat. Tallahassee, Florida. p. 16. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b Sullivan, Mike (March 11, 1978). "Dream come true... for U of L's Rick Wilson". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. 26. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Watson, George (March 1, 1979). "Price Takes Solomon's Place In Front Line For Gobblers". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. p. 33. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b "Men's Metro Conference Player of the Year Winners". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2023. Retrieved November 26, 2023.
  6. ^ a b "Smith, Burns best in Metro". Tampa Bay Times. Tampa Bay, Florida. March 4, 1981. p. 15. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Sports Shorts – College Basketball". St. Louis Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. March 10, 1983. p. 40. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Williams tops in Metro". The Cincinnati Post. Cincinnati, Ohio. March 7, 1984. p. 23. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Whicker, Mark (March 27, 1985). "The forgotten All-American". The State. Columbia, South Carolina. p. 66. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Tech's Curry named Metro's top player". Kingsport Times-News. Kingsport, Tennessee. March 7, 1986. p. 19. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Bozich, Rick (March 6, 1987). "By hook or by Crook, former coaches helped Herb become superb". The Courier-Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. p. 9. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b "Coles, Ellison head All-Metro team". Anderson Independent-Mail. Anderson, South Carolina. March 11, 1988. p. 29. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b "Coles, Ellison share honor". The Herald. Rock Hill, South Carolina. March 11, 1988. p. 8. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Gilstrap, Jim (March 11, 1989). "McCloud, and Finch honored by conference". Anderson Independent-Mail. Anderson, South Carolina. p. 10. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b c "USM star forward named league Player of the Year for third straight season". Hattiesburg American. Hattiesburg, Mississippi. March 12, 1992. p. 10. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "All-Metro Conference". The Town Talk. Alexandria, Louisiana. March 13, 1993. p. 10. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Blanchard, Scott (March 9, 1994). "Rozier tops All-Metro". The Roanoke Times. Roanoke, Virginia. p. 10. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "UNCC's Jarvis Lang earns Metro honor". Bristol Herald Courier. Bristol, Virginia. March 10, 1995. p. 18. Retrieved November 26, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.