Lester Hudson, a junior on the UT Martin men’s basketball team, was named the Ohio Valley Conference’s Male Athlete of the Year.
The league’s top honor was awarded to Hudson, May 30, at the OVC’s annual spring meetings at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville.
Hudson was unable to accept the award because he was participating in NBA pre-draft camp in Florida. Although Hudson declared himself eligible for the June 26 draft, he later withdrew his name and will return to school for his senior season.
Hudson put together one of the best all-around seasons in Ohio Valley Conference history in 2007-08 and helped his team make a six-game improvement in its league record. The Skyhawks were picked last (11th) in a preseason poll but finished fourth and qualified for the OVC Tournament.
Hudson made school, conference and NCAA history during the season, including becoming the first Division I men’s player to record a quadruple-double (25 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals vs. Central Baptist College) in a college game. He also had a triple-double, eight additional double-doubles and cracked the 30-point plateau 11 times during his rookie season in the league. He finished the season ranked fifth nationally in points per game (25.7), fourth in steals (2.8) and 10th in 3-pointers made per game (3.8). He also ranked among the top 90 nationally in rebounding (79th, 7.8/game), assists (88th, 4.5/game), 3-point percentage (72nd, 38.8%) and free throw percentage (67th, 83.4%).
Hudson knocked down a school record 124 3-pointers and set the OVC single-season record. A native of Memphis, who transferred from Southwest Tennessee Community College, Hudson is the first UT Martin player to receive the OVC Player of the Year award. He was also named to the OVC All-Newcomer squad, became just the fourth Skyhawk ever named to the All-OVC first-team and was named UT Martin’s Bob Carroll Male Athlete of the Year. Hudson became the first player in school history to claim All-American honors from the Associated Press and collegeinsider.com, since the school started playing in Division I.
For more informatiion about Lester Hudson, see the Feb. 4 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.
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