BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Dayton junior forward DaRon Holmes II and Richmond graduate student guard Jordan King were named the Atlantic 10 Conference Co-Men’s Basketball Players of the Year, while Holmes was also selected as Defensive Player of the Year as the league announced its awards in advance of the 2024 Men’s Basketball Championship, which begins Tuesday at Barclays Center. Long time Richmond bench boss Chris Mooney was voted A-10 Coach of the Year.
 
Saint Joseph’s freshman guard Xzayvier Brown was selected as A-10 Rookie of the Year, and Dayton junior guard Koby Brea was won the Sixth Man of the Year award. The Chris Daniels Most Improved Player was shared by junior guard Rahsool Diggins of Massachusetts and Richmond senior guard Dji Bailey.
 
The major awards, the three six-member All-Conference teams, and the All-Defensive and All-Rookie teams were nominated and voted on by the conference’s 15 head coaches. The men's basketball communications directors selected the five-member All-Academic team.
 
Holmes is the fifth player in league history to win Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. He joins Ace Baldwin from VCU (2023-23), UMass’ Stephane Lasme (2006-07), David West of Xavier (2001-02) and Temple’s Pepe Sanchez (1999-00). Holmes leads the A-10 in scoring (20.2) and ranks second in rebounding (8.27) and is the only player in the league's top six in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots. A Goodyear, Ariz., native, he is a finalist for the Wooden Award, the Naismith Trophy, the USBWA Oscar Robertson Player of the Year Trophy and the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Karl Malone Award. A five-time A-10 Player of the Week, he was also named to the All-Conference First Team and the All-Defensive Team.
 
This marks the third time in league history the Player of the Year honor has been shared, with Peyton Aldridge of Davidson and St. Bonaventure’s Jaylen Adams King winning the award in 2017-18, and Steven Smith or la Salle and Saint Joseph’s Pat Carroll splitting the accolade in 2004-05. King ranked second in scoring in the A-10 (18.5) and third in 3-pointers made with 2.58 per game. An Albany, N.Y., product, King is also on the Oscar Robertson Trophy watch list, is a three-time A-10 Player of the Week selection, and ranks 12^th nationally in 3-point percentage at 42.6 percent. He was also named to the All-Conference First Team and the All-Academic Team.
 
Mooney led Richmond to is best-ever A-10 record at 15-3 and its first -ever A-10 Regular Season title. The Spiders, who were picked 11^th in the preseason, also finished at 23-8 overall, which included a winning streak of 11 games, the third longest run in school history. The all-time wins leader at Richmond and the longest tenured active Atlantic 10 coach, Mooney returned to the sidelines this season after stepping away at the end of the 2022-23 season for heart surgery.
 
Playing in his hometown of Philadelphia, Brown ranked second at Saint Joseph’s in scoring with 11.3 points per game and second in assists with 3.29. He ranked fourth in the league in 3-point percentage (43.2) and he played in all 31 games this season, scoring in double digits in 22 of those. He had back-to-back games of 27 (vs. Saint Louis) and 29 (vs. Loyola Chicago). A three-time A-10 Rookie of the Week honoree, he also was selected for the All-Rookie Team.
 
Coming off the bench, Brea leads the nation in 3-point percentage, sinking 49.7 percent (89-179) of his shots from beyond the arc. He shoots 51.4 percent from the field and is third at Dayton in scoring with 11.0 points per game.  Hailing from Washington Heights, N.Y., Brea also shoots free throws at a prolific clip of 87.5 percent, which leads the Flyers and is equal to the second-best rate in the A-10.
 
A native of Philadelphia, Diggins is third in scoring at UMass, tallying 12.6 points per game, nearly eight points better than last season. He’s also third on the team in assists, dishing out 2.2 per game. He set a career high of 25 points against George Washington this season, eclipsing last year’s high-water mark by 10 points. He started every game for the Minutemen, tallying a team-high 30.5 minutes played per game. Last season Diggins averaged 4.7 points per game.
 
Averaging 10 points per game this season for the Spiders, Bailey upped his scoring by seven points per game this season over last and more than eight points per game over his first two seasons. The Wilson, N.C., product was fourth in scoring for UR and third in rebounding (4.5). he also led the team in steals (1.77) and field goal percentage (.593). He’s second in the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage and fourth in steals.
 
Joining Holmes and King on the All-Conference First Team were Josh Cohen and Matt Cross of UMass, Erik Reynolds II (Saint Joseph’s) and Max Shulga (VCU).
 
The All-Conference second team consisted of Jimmy Clark III and Dae Dae Grant from Duquesne, George Mason’s Keyshawn Hall, Des Watson (Loyola Chicago), Neal Quinn (Richmond) and Chad Venning (St. Bonaventure). Nate Santos (Dayton), James Bishop IV (George Washington), Jhamir Brickus (La Salle), Philip Alston and  Braden Norris of Loyola Chicago and Saint Louis’ Gibson Jimerson were all on the All-Conference Third Team.
 
Connor Kochera (Davidson), Santos, Norris, King and Jimerson were named to the All-Academic team.
Holmes, Clark, Kyle Rose (Fordham), Babtunde Akingbola (George Washington) and Miles Rubin (Loyola Chicago) were all voted to the All-Defensive team. Baraka Okojie (George Mason), Darren Buchanan, Jr., (George Washington), Jaylen Curry (Massachusetts) joined Rubin and on the All-Rookie team.