SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Samford's Demetrius Denzel-Dyson, Wyatt Walker, Triston Chambers and Josh Sharkey were all honored by the Southern Conference on Wednesday as the Bulldogs' foursome received high-profile postseason accolades, it was announced by the league office.
 
Denzel-Dyson earned Third-Team All-SoCon honors for his outstanding play this season. The Bulldogs' junior guard from Covington, Tennessee, averaged 18.8 points against league opponents this year and turned in a 51.6 shooting percentage from the field.
 
Additionally, Denzel-Dyson owns a 48.7-percent tally from 3-point range this season and has already connected on 77 attempts from beyond the arc. He is also averaging five rebounds per contest and has exploded for scoring outputs of 40, 31, 30, 26, 24 and 22 points in key games this year.
 
Walker, Samford's talented sophomore center from Jacksonville, Florida, also garnered Third-Team All-SoCon honors Wednesday. Walker is averaging 12.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game this season and is ranked among the top players in the nation in four statistical categories.
 
At 6-foot-9, the Bulldogs' center leads the SoCon in double-doubles (14), rebounds (279), rebounds per game (9.6) and defensive rebounds per game (6.8).
 
Samford placed at least one player on the SoCon All-Freshman team for the sixth straight season, in fact, the Bulldogs' Chambers and Sharkey were both honored by the media Wednesday.
 
Chambers, Samford's 6-foot-2 sharpshooter from Cold Springs, has already started in 30 games this year and is averaging 7.5 points per outing. Additionally, he is shooting 43.9 percent from 3-point range and is playing 22.9 minutes per contest.
 
Sharkey, who leads the SoCon in steals this season with 63, is also ranked No. 14 in the nation in the category. The Bulldogs' feisty point guard from Philadelphia is averaging 8.8 points per game and has also handed out a freshman-record 137 assists this season.
 
Furman's Devin Sibley became the second straight Paladin to be named the league's Player of the Year by both the league's coaches and media, following Stephen Croone in 2015-16.
 
The Citadel's Preston Parks swept the Freshman of the Year awards. He proved to be the first Citadel player to accomplish that feat since Cameron Wells in 2008. Parks and Wells were the only two Cadets to have been named Freshman of the Year.
 
Niko Medved became the first Furman coach to garner the Coach of the Year honors since Butch Estes in 1991.
 
Justin Tuoyo was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season. He is the only player to win the award multiple times since it began in 2009. A Moc has won the Defensive Player of the Year Award in each of the last four seasons (Z. Mason – 2014; Justin Tuoyo 2015-17).
 
Eight SoCon teams placed at least one player on the coaches' all-conference teams, while nine programs were represented on the three media teams.
 
The 2017 SoCon Tournament begins Friday at 4 p.m. (CT) as No. 8 Western Carolina faces No. 9 The Citadel to kick off the 10-team, four-day event being held at the U.S. Cellular Center. The Catamounts pulled off a season sweep during the two regular season meetings.  The winner of that opening-round game advances to face UNCG Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
The second game Friday will see seventh-seeded Samford take on VMI. The Bulldogs claimed both regular-season contests. That winner will square off against Furman on Saturday at 5 p.m.
 
Saturday's schedule features four quarterfinal games beginning at 11 a.m. The second semifinal of the day is set to tip at 1:30 p.m., and will be between No. 4 Chattanooga and No. 5 Wofford. The evening session begins at 5 p.m., when Furman takes on the winner of Friday night's second game. The fourth quarterfinal on Saturday is between No. 3 ETSU and No. 6 Mercer. 
 
Sunday's first semifinal is set for 4 p.m., with the second game scheduled to tip at approximately 6:30 p.m.
 
Friday's opening round, Saturday's quarterfinals and Sunday's semifinals will be available on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app.  Monday's championship game will tip off at 6 p.m., and can be seen on ESPN2.
 
For quick score updates, breaking news and links to all of your favorite articles featuring the Bulldogs, please follow @SamfordHoopsFOE and @Samford_Sports on Twitter.

 
2017 Men's Basketball Awards - Coaches
 
All-Conference First Team
T.J. Cromer, ETSU
Devin Sibley, Furman
Justin Tuoyo, Chattanooga
Eric Garcia, Wofford
Fletcher Magee, Wofford
 
All-Conference Second Team
Kris Acox, Furman
Ria'n Holland, Mercer
Francis Alonso, UNCG
Diante Baldwin, UNCG
QJ Peterson, VMI
 
All-Conference Third Team
Desonta Bradford, ETSU
R.J. White, UNCG
Demetrius Denzel-Dyson, Samford
Wyatt Walker, Samford
Tre' McLean, Chattanooga
 
All-Freshman Team
Preston Parks, The Citadel
Jordan Lyons, Furman
James Dickey, UNCG
Josh Sharkey, Samford
Nathan Hoover, Wofford
 
Player of the Year
Devin Sibley, Jr., G, Furman
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Justin Tuoyo, Sr., F, Chattanooga
 
Freshman of the Year
Preston Parks, G, The Citadel
 
Coach of the Year
Niko Medved, Furman
 
 
2017 Men's Basketball Awards - Media
 
All-Conference First Team
T.J. Cromer, ETSU
Devin Sibley, Furman
QJ Peterson, VMI
Eric Garcia, Wofford
Fletcher Magee, Wofford

All-Conference Second Team
Kris Acox, Furman
Ria'n Holland, Mercer
Francis Alonso, UNCG
Diante Baldwin, UNCG
Justin Tuoyo, Chattanooga
 
All-Conference Third Team
Preston Parks, The Citadel
R.J. White, UNCG
Demetrius Denzel-Dyson, Samford
Wyatt Walker, Samford
Tre' McLean, Chattanooga
 
All-Freshman Team
Preston Parks, The Citadel
Josh Sharkey, Samford
James Dickey, UNCG
Nathan Hoover, Wofford
Kaelon Harris, The Citadel
Triston Chambers, Samford
*Due to a tie in the voting, the SoCon All-Freshman team consists of six members
 
Malcolm U. Pitt Player of the Year
Devin Sibley, Jr., G, Furman
 
Freshman of the Year
Preston Parks, G, The Citadel
 
Anton Foy Coach of the Year
Niko Medved, Furman