Correspondent photos / Robert Hayes. Youngstown State's DJ Burns (left) and Emily Saunders (right) were among the Penguins to earn All-Horizon League honors for their performances this season, as announced by the conference on Monday.

YOUNGSTOWN — Four Youngstown State men’s basketball players were honored Monday, as the Horizon League unveiled its All-League awards, as voted on by the conference’s coaches.

Fifth-year forwards DJ Burns and Ziggy Reid were both named to the All-Horizon League Second Team and fifth-year guard Brett Thompson earned All-Horizon League Third Team honors, while freshman center Gabe Dynes was named to the All-Freshman Team and both Burns and Dynes were named to the All-Defensive Team.

“I thought DJ Burns should have been a First-Team All-League guy,” Penguins coach Jerrod Calhoun said in a press conference on Monday. “Obviously the other coaches don’t really value rebounding and wins — we were second in wins and he’s one of the best rebounders in school history. He’s been on a tear. … But I tell these guys all the time, it’s not really about that. At the end of the day, it’s about making the NCAA tournament.

“But I was happy for all of them. I thought Gabe should have been Defensive Player of the Year, but the coaches valued steals instead of blocks. Our defense went from seventh to third, and a big part of that was Gabe Dynes and DJ Burns and our wings and our wings guarding. I thought Ziggy had a tremendous year, and I thought Brett Thompson had a tremendous year. We’ve got a balanced team. Sometimes when you have a balanced team, the accolades suffer a little bit.”

Burns was second on the team in scoring and led the conference in rebounds, averaging 12.9 points and 10.8 boards per game. He was third in the country in double-doubles with 21, and broke the school’s single-season rebounding record.

“I’m glad, and first of all, I have to thank God, my coaches and my teammates for allowing me to be that guy,” Burns said. “We always got our personal goals going into the season, to get those while accomplishing some pretty big and great team goals, as a player, it’s a dream come true getting recognition. We’ve had a really great season, that’s what I’m more happy about.”

Reid led YSU with 14.7 points per game and shot 38.1% from three-point range. Thompson averaged 12.7 points and led the team and was fifth in the conference in assists with 4.1 per game. Dynes made a splash on conference play as a shot blocker, leading the league in blocks with 2.3 per game. He broke the school’s freshman record for blocks.

Oakland’s Trey Townsend was named Player of the Year, while Green Bay picked up a bulk of the awards, including Coach of the Year (Sundance Wicks), Newcomer of the Year (Noah Reynolds) and Freshman of the Year (David Douglas Jr.). Oakland’s Jack Gohlke won Sixth Man of the Year, Northern Kentucky’s Trey Robinson received Defensive Player of the Year and NKU’s Marques Warrick won the Sportsmanship Award.

“The league was great, it was the best it’s been in seven years,” Calhoun said. “(Oakland coach Greg Kampe) and Sundance Wicks both deserved Coach of the Year. I don’t know what our league was thinking, but I don’t know how you can have a guy 15-5 and not get Coach of the Year. (Green Bay) was picked last and they finished (third), so (Wicks) did a remarkable job too.”

As the No. 2 seed, YSU’s opponent on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Horizon League quarterfinals is still to be determined. The Penguins will host the second-lowest remaining seed at the Beeghly Center, based on the results of Tuesday’s first-round games.

For the women’s team, fifth-year center Emily Saunders was named to the All-Horizon League Third Team and All-Defensive Team, while fifth-year guard Mady Aulbach was one of two conference players to share the Horizon League’s Sportsmanship Award.

Saunders led YSU in scoring this season, averaging 11.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, in her first full season as a starter. She led the conference in field goal percentage (59.6%) and blocks (70) and was top-25 in Division I in both statistics.

“Mady winning the Sportsmanship Award, I was actually shocked that she shared it with somebody,” women’s interim head coach John Nicolais said Monday. “She does all the little things right. She’s always quick to help a teammate and an opposing player up. I’m not really surprised by that. We’re happy for (Emily) to get recognized. She’s been a force in conference play. I thought maybe we’d have a couple other kids that might get a look that didn’t, so maybe that’s motivation for (Tuesday’s game).”

Aulbach shared the Sportsmanship Award with Milwaukee’s Kendall Nead. The Sportsmanship Award recognizes student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior.

Aulbach is a three-year team captain and is serving as president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for both YSU and the Horizon League. She’s also played the second-most games in program history.

“I literally had no idea, so I’m super honored, and I think it’s a really cool thing that the Horizon League is doing this year,” Aulbach said. “When they first started talking about formulating the award, I was there at the Horizon League conference in the summer. So to be there when it was in talks to become a thing and then now earning it and sharing it with someone who, although we’re opponents, is actually one of my friends and a really good person and really good player, I feel really honored.”

Cleveland State swept most of the women’s Horizon League awards, with Colbi Maples winning Player of the Year, Mickayla Perdue winning Newcomer of the Year, Carmen Villalobos earning Defensive Player of the Year and Vikings coach Chris Kielsmeier being selected as Coach of the Year. Northern Kentucky’s Carter McCray was named Freshman of the Year, while Green Bay’s Callie Genke and Milwaukee’s Grace Crowley earned Sixth Player of the Year honors.

As the No. 7 seed, YSU is set to host No. 10 seed IUPUI in the first round of the Horizon League tournament on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Beeghly Center.

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