LAKE CHARLES – McNeese graduate guard Shahada Wells has been named to the 2023-24 Lou Henson Award Mid-Season Watch List which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I college basketball.
 
The Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons.
 
Wells has played a major role in the Cowboys' success so far this season, leading the team to a 13-2 record and 2-0 start in Southland Conference play.
 
The Amarillo, Texas native leads the team and is ranked second in the league with 19.7 points per game which also ranks 29^th nationally. He's also tops in the Southland and 18^th in the NCAA with 36 total steals, No. 1 in the SLC and 11^th in NCAA with 2.6 steals per game, and leads the conference with 101 total field goals made.
 
A two-time Southland and Louisiana Player of the Week, Wells has also been named Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week (Dec. 5) and the Lute Olson National Player of the Week (Jan. 2) this season.
 
He's recorded 30-point or more three times on the season and has clipped 20 or more points six times while scoring in double-figures in 12 games, including in eight straight.
 
Players from the teams in the following conferences are eligible for the award: American East, ASUN, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Coastal Athletic, CUSA, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, MEAC, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC, Summit, Sun Belt, WAC, West Coast.
 
The recipient of the 2023-24 award will be announced in April, in Phoenix, site of the men's NCAA Basketball Championship.
 
LOU HENSON AWARD MID-SEASON WATCH LIST
Tyson Acuff 6-4 Eastern Michigan
De'Sean Allen-Eikens 6-6 CSUN
Rasheed Bello 6-0 Purdue Fort Wayne
T.J. Bickerstaff 6-9 James Madison
 Jalen Blackmon 6-3 Stetson
Tommy Bruner 6-1 Denver
Terrell Burden 5-10 Kennesaw State
Clarence Daniels 6-6 New Hampshire
Tucker DeVries 6-7 Drake
Terrence Edwards Jr. 6-6 James Madison
Enrique Freeman 6-7 Akron
Tyon Grant-Foster 6-7 Grand Canyon
Marcus Hill 6-4 Bowling Green
Xavier Johnson 6-1 Southern Illinois
Dillon Jones 6-6 Weber State
Xaivian Lee 6-3 Princeton
Malik Mack 6-1 Harvard
Issac McBride 6-1 Oral Roberts
Duke Miles 6-3 High Point
Riley Minix 6-7 Morehead State
Ajay Mitchell 6-5 UC Santa Barbara
Jonathan Mogbo 6-8 San Francisco
Drew Pember 6-11 UNC Asheville
Elijah Pepper 6-4 UC Davis
Caden Pierce 6-7 Princeton
Xavier Rice 6-3 Monmouth
Kyle Rode 6-7 Liberty
Reyne Smith 6-2 Charleston
TreVon Spillers 6-7 Appalachian State
Isaiah Swope 5-10 Indiana State
KyKy Tandy 6-2 Jacksonville State
Jamarii Thomas 6-0 Norfolk State
Tyler Thomas 6-3 Hofstra
Trey Townsend 6-7 Oakland
Marques Warrick 6-2 NKU
Shahada Wells 6-0 McNeese
Trazarien White 6-7 UNCW
Amari Williams 6-10 Drexel
Danny Wolf 7-0 Yale
Vonterius Woolbright 6-6 Western Carolina