Five Players, Coach Henry Garner all-Heart Recognition
Oskaloosa–The William Penn men’s basketball team collected seven honors on the heels of another impressive regular season as the all-Heart of America Athletic Conference teams were announced Thursday.
Malik Edwards (Fr., Drexel Hill, Pa., Business Management) and Eddie Daley (Grad., DeWitt, Mich., Master’s of Organizational Leadership) were both named to the 11-player first team.
Chanze Cruesoe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo., Business Management) and Muneer Newton (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa., Business Management) collected second-team recognition (10 players total), while James Pennington (Sr., Calumet City, Ill., Sports Management) was one of 19 individuals to garner an honorable-mention laurel.
Daley is now a three-time award winner (first time on first team), while Cruesoe has won two accolades (first time on second team). For Pennington, it is the fourth all-conference honor in his career (previous three at Trinity Christian). Edwards and Muneer are both first-time recipients of league hardware.
Daley was also just one of six individuals chosen for the Heart’s all-defensive team.
Head Coach John Henry was selected by his peers as the Heart Coach of the Year. It is the fifth time that Henry has won a COY laurel, having also been honored in 2007, 2013, 2017, and 2021.
The award winners have led William Penn to a current record of 26-3 (21-1 Heart), a Heart regular season crown, an automatic berth to the NAIA National Championship, and a trip to Saturday’s Heart Tournament Semifinals.
Edwards leads the Statesmen with 16.9 points per game in addition to 3.2 rebounds per outing. He has also recorded 65 assists, 31 steals, and six blocks, while shooting 43.5% from the floor (34.8% 3-PT). He has hit 68.4% of his free throws as well.
The sophomore, who has posted 22 double-digit performances, scored a season-best 30 points versus MidAmerica Nazarene on December 17.
Daley is nearly averaging a double-double with 10.6 points and a team-best 9.4 rebounds. The graduate student also has a team-high 47 blocks alongside 28 assists and 14 steals. He is shooting 52.4% from the field (29.6% 3-PT) and has thus far posted seven double-doubles. He has a high scoring game of 29 points against Bethel (Ind.) on November 15 and a high rebounding showing of 17 versus Culver-Stockton on December 7.
Cruesoe enters Saturday’s semifinals averaging 12.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and a team-high 5.5 assists per game. He has also thus far recorded 38 steals (squad best) and eight blocks, while shooting 47.0% overall and 71.6% at the free-throw line.
The junior has 21 double-digit outings and one double-double under his belt. He scored a season-high 24 points against Governors State on October 29 and dished out a campaign-best 11 assists versus Park on January 7 (same game in which he had his double-double).
Newton is averaging 10.8 points and 8.0 rebounds in addition to 24 steals, 20 assists, and 12 blocks. He leads WPU with a shooting mark of 64.5%. The sophomore, who has tallied 10 double-doubles (leads the team), scored a season-high 19 points versus Benedictine in Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchup, while also pulling down a year-best 13 rebounds against Peru State on January 11.
Pennington is also averaging double figures with 10.5 points per contest. He has averages of 4.1 for rebounds and 3.4 for assists as well, while managing 28 steals and 18 blocks at this juncture of the season. The senior has made 44.8% of his shots and a team-high 79.4% of his free throws.
The owner of 13 double-digit scoring games, he put up a season-high 24 points versus Peru State on January 11. Pennington posted his lone double-double against Culver-Stockton on December 7.
Josh Pritchett of Evangel was named Heart Player of the Year, while Autry Accord, also of Evangel, won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year honor. Central Methodist’s James Jordan was tabbed as Newcomer of the Year, and Sam Ungashick of Benedictine received the Freshman of the Year laurel.
Chase Dippel of Baker was picked as Heart Assistant Coach of the Year.
