Two of the key members of McNeese's record-setting men's basketball turnaround season took home top honors on the Louisiana Sports Writers Association's 2023-24 All-Louisiana Men's Basketball Team.
 
Senior guard Shahada Wells, a transfer from TCU, took home both Player and Newcomer of the Year honors to add to his plethora of individual awards at the conference and national level while Will Wade was named Coach of the Year after leading the Cowboys to a 30-4 record and the Southland Conference regular season and tournament championships and the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 22 years and third overall.
 
Christian Shumate earned second team honors while DJ Richards Jr. was selected to the third team.
 
Wells is only the second McNeese player to be named the state's Player of the Year and first since Joe Dumars in 1985.
 
The Southland Conference Player of the Year and a Major Madness First-Team All-American, Wells was the only player in the NCAA to average at least 17 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and three steals per game this past season. An Amarillo, Texas, native, Wells led the Cowboys in scoring (17.8 ppg) while dishing out 4.7 assists per game, grabbing 4.5 rebounds per game and swiping three steals per contest.
 
A Lou Henson and Lute Olson All-American, Wells has 36 points in a win at UAB and 30 in McNeese's win at Michigan in non-conference action among his 29 double-figure scoring efforts, which included a career-high 37 at Western Carolina.
 
Wade, who was also named the Southland Conference and NABC District 22 Coach of the Year, was named a finalist for the Jim Phelan and Hugh Durham National Coach of the Year Awards and earned a vote as the AP Coach of the Year.
 
He engineered McNeese's NCAA Division I-record-tying 19-game turnaround from a season ago, helping the Cowboys become one of just seven teams to win 30 games or more in Division I this season.
 
The Cowboys' first NCAA Tournament trip in 22 years also came in a season where McNeese garnered votes in the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Top 25 for the first time in school history.
 
McNeese went 18-0 inside the Legacy Center and ranked in the top five nationally in five categories – scoring margin (plus-17.7, 2^nd), turnover margin (plus-6.7, 3^rd), winning percentage (88.2, 3^rd), field goal percentage defense (38.9, 4^th) and steals per game (10.3, 5^th).
 
Wade is the fourth McNeese coach to be voted as the state's Coach of the Year (2011 Dave Simmons, 2002 Tic Price, 1978 Glenn Duhon).
 
One of the most electric players in all of college basketball, Shumate was named the Southland's Defensive Player of the Year while garnering first team All-SLC, SLC All-Defensive Team and NABC All-District first team honors.
 
The Chicago native led Southland and ranked 31st in the NCAA with 9.5 rebounds per game and led the league while ranking 33^rd in the country with 13 double-doubles, including his final one of 19 points and 11 rebounds against Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament First Round.
 
Shumate led the SLC with 15 double-digit rebound games while leading the conference and ranking 15th in NCAA with 3.7 offensive rebounds per game and pulled down a career high 21 boards in a win at UAB. He finished the season ranked second in the SLC in total blocks (47) and blocks per game (1.4). He added 25 double-digit scoring games, two of those going for 20 points or more.
 
He was featured on ESPN's Top 10 Plays of the Day a total of 10 times, nine of those being dunks, and held down the No. 1 play twice.
 
Richards Jr. ended the season as the league's three-point champion, sinking 45.1 percent for the season. The Houston native connected on 83 treys for the season, the 8^th-most in a season in school history, while his percentage ranked as the third-highest ever.
 
He scored double-figures 19 times and scored 20 or more twice. Three times he sank at least five three-pointers in a game. He earned SLC All-Tournament honors following a 16-point performance in a win over Nicholls in the championship game.
 
Joining Wells on the first team are Louisiana Tech teammates Isaiah Crawford and Daniel Batcho, Nicholls' Diante Smith and LSU's Jordan Wright.
 
The second team features UL Lafayette's Kobe Julien (17.3 points, 4.8 rebounds per game), Tulane's Kevin Cross (17.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 4.6 apg), McNeese's Christian Shumate (12.1 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.4 bpg), Southeastern Louisiana's Nick Caldwell (15.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg), and Grambling's Kintavious Dozier (13 ppg, 3 rpg).
 
The third team consists of LSU-Alexandria's Kashie Natt (17.4 ppg, 10.1 rpg), New Orleans' Jordan Johnson (21.3 ppg, 3.8 apg), SUNO's Jamal Gibson (21 ppg, 15.8 rpg), McNeese's DJ Richards (11.4 ppg, 45.1 3PT FG%), Centenary's Seth Thomas (16.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and Xavier's TJ Jones (14 ppg, 4.8 apg).
 
The 2023-24 LSWA All-Louisiana Men's Basketball teams were selected by a statewide vote of school sports information directors and media members.
 
2023-24 LSWA All-Louisiana Men's Basketball Teams
Player of the Year: Shahada Wells, G, McNeese
Newcomer of the Year: Shahada Wells, G, McNeese
Freshman of the Year: John Awoke, Bossier Parish Community College
Coach of the Year: Will Wade, McNeese
First Team
Shahada Wells, G, Gr., McNeese, Fort Worth, Texas
17.8 points per game, 4.7 assists per game, Southland Conference Player of the Year, SLC Newcomer of the Year, Major Madness First-Team All-American
Isaiah Crawford, F, Gr., Louisiana Tech, Fort Worth, Texas
16.3 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, Conference USA Player of the Year, CUSA Defensive Player of the Year, NABC All-District First Team
Daniel Batcho, F, R-Jr., Louisiana Tech, Paris, France
15.2 points per game, 9.8 rebounds per game, Conference USA Newcomer of the Year
Diante Smith, F, Sr., Nicholls, Fort Walton Beach, Florida
16.0 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per game, First-Team All-Southland Conference
Jordan Wright, F, Gr., LSU, Waggaman, Louisiana
15.1 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game
 
Second Team
Kobe Julien, F, R-Jr., UL Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
17.3 points per game, 4.8 rebounds per game, Second-Team All-Sun Belt
Kevin Cross, F, Sr., Tulane, Little Rock, Arkansas
17.5 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game, Third-Team All-American Athletic Conference
Christian Shumate, F, Jr., McNeese, Chicago, Illinois
12. 1points per game, 9.5 rebounds per game, Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year
Nick Caldwell, G/F, Sr., Southeastern Louisiana, Prairieville, Louisiana
15.4 points per game, 5.5 rebounds per game, First-Team All-Southland Conference
Kintavious Dozier, G, Jr., Grambling, Lanett, Alabama
13.0 points per game, 3.0 rebounds per game, First-Team All-Southwestern Athletic Conference
 
Third Team
Kashie Natt, G, Jr., LSU-Alexandria, Rayville, Louisiana
17.4 points per game, 10.1 rebounds per game, Red River Athletic Conference Player of the Year
Jordan Johnson, G, Sr., New Orleans, Memphis, Tennessee
21.3 points per game, 3.8 steals per game, Second-Team All-Southland Conference
Jamal Gibson, F, Fr., SUNO, New Orleans, Louisiana
21 points per game, 15.8 rebounds per game, Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Year
DJ Richards, F, So., McNeese, Houston, Texas
11.4 points per game, 45.1 3-point shooting percentage, Southland Conference All-Tournament Team
TJ Jones, G, 5Y, Xavier, Opelousas, Louisiana
14.0 points per game, 4.8 assists per game, First-Team All-Red River Athletic Conference
Seth Thomas, F, Sr., Centenary, Kilgore, Texas
16.2 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game, First-Team All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference
 
Honorable Mention (Appeared on at least 25 percent of ballots)
CJ Carpenter, G, Sr., LSU-Shreveport, Natchitoches, Louisiana
Joe Charles, F, Jr., UL Lafayette, Carencro, Louisiana
Tra'Michael Moton, G, Gr., Grambling, Shreveport, Louisiana