BOSTON - One of the greatest players in William & Mary history added another chapter to his story on Wednesday. Senior Nathan Knight was selected as the winner of the 2019-20 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award, CollegeInsider.com announced.
 
Knight becomes the first CAA player to win the honor and joins a list of winners that includes Wofford's Fletcher Magee in 2019, Loyola Chicago's Clayton Custer in 2018, Monmouth's Justin Robinson in 2017, Stephen F. Austin's Thomas Walkup in 2016, USC Upstate's Ty Greene in 2015, Mercer's Langston Hall in 2014,  Saint Mary's Matthew Dellavedova in 2013, Norfolk State's Kyle O'Quinn in 2012, Butler's Matt Howard in 2011 and Oakland's Keith Benson in 2010.  
 
The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the nation's top Division I mid-major player. Knight was selected by the award committee consisting of a 30-member panel that includes five current Division I head coaches, five retired head coaches, 10 current athletic directors and/or conference administrators, five members of the national media and five collegeinsider.com staff members. Players on teams from the following conferences are eligible for the award: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Great West, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast.
 
The award is named in honor of the former Illinois and New Mexico State coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons. Henson is the winningest coach in Illinois basketball history with 423 victories. During his 21 seasons (1975-1996), Henson led the Fighting Illini to 16 postseason appearances, including 12 NCAA tournaments and a Final Four appearance in 1989. Henson, who is also the all-time winningest coach in New Mexico State history with 289 victories, is one of only 11 coaches to take two different schools to the NCAA Final Four. His teams have made 19 NCAA appearances and four NIT appearances.
 
The national player of the year award adds to a long list during Knight's historic senior season. He became just the second player in league history to be named both the CAA Player and Defensive Player of the Year. Nationally, Knight was selected as one of five finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year Award for the second-straight season. He was selected as one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, which recognizes excellence in community, classroom, character and competition. Earlier this season, Knight was named to the watch list for the USBWA Oscar Robertson Trophy in December and the midseason list for the 2020 Citizen Naismith Trophy Men's Player of the Year presented by the Atlanta Tipoff Club in February.
 
Twice over the last two weeks, Knight has been selected to All-District teams by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC). He was the only of 10 players from outside of the ACC and Big Ten on the USBWA list. Knight was an All-CAA First Team honoree for the second-straight season and became the 15th player in CAA history to be named to the All-Defensive Team on three occasions.

Statically, Knight led the country in player efficiency rating (35.0) while ranking second in double-doubles (23). He was also among the top 20 nationally in free throws made (fourth at 180), defensive rebound per game (sixth at 7.8), win shares (10th at 6.3), total rebounds (13th at 337), total points (14th at 663), rebounds per game (16th at 10.5), field goals made (16th at 227) and points per game (19th at 20.7). According to KenPom.com, Knight was seventh in the country in offensive rating, for players with a 28% usage rate, at 114.0 and in fouls drawn per 40 minutes (7.5).
 
Knight became just the fourth player in CAA history and first since 1989 to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. He is one of only three players nationally this season with those averages. Knight is the first Tribe player to average 20 points and 10 rebounds since Bob Sherwood in 1968. He also graduates from W&M tied with the 2018 senior class as the winningest in program history with 44 CAA victories.
 
Over his career, Knight finished ranked second in W&M history in points and blocked shots and third in rebounding. In the CAA record book, he is among the all-time leaders at seventh in free throws made (559), ninth in blocked shots (221), 13th in scoring (2,141) and 13th in rebounding (964). 
 
Knight led the Tribe to a 21-11 record and the second seed in the CAA Championship as a senior. The 21 wins were the most in the regular season for a Tribe team since 1950, and the 2019-20 squad equaled school records with 13 CAA wins and 10 road victories.