Newcomer of the Year Sharp, Freshman of the Year Hampton lead NSU’s All-Louisiana selections

NATCHITOCHES, La. (KALB) - 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.

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