McDowell, Payne receive Louisiana Coaches’ awards
04/28/04

The LSUS Men’s basketball coach and the team’s leading scorer will be honored Saturday at the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches annual banquet in Baton Rouge.

Coach Chad McDowell, the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, has been selected the LABC Small College Coach of the Year, and sophomore shooting guard Fredericko “Rico” Payne, the GCAC Newcomer of the Year, will share LABC Small College Player of the Year honors with SUNO’s Roberto Ferriar. College basketball coaches throughout the state vote on the awards.

McDowell led his team to a 21-12 overall record in the Pilots’ first year of competition since the mid-1990s – when McDowell was a standout player for LSUS. The Pilots’ 12-6 GCAC record put them in a tie for fourth place in the conference, one game behind a three-way tie for first place.

Payne, a GCAC first team All-Conference selection, played a major role in the Pilots’ success this season. Payne finished the season as the leading scorer in the GCAC averaging 21.8 points per game, a mark that was good enough to rank him eighth in the nation.