Monmouth College sophomore men’s basketball player Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) was named fifth-team All-American by d3hoops.com. Brown is Monmouth’s first preseason All-American from d3hoops.com since Will Carius made the third team in 2019.
Brown capped his freshman season by being named First Team All-Region (Region 9) by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Second Team All-Region by d3hoops.com in March. He was the first Monmouth player to earn All-Region since Carius in 2018-19 and he was also named Midwest Conference Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year
Brown scored 27 points in his first collegiate game last November and never slowed down. He finished the season as the MWC leader in rebounds (9.1) and blocks (1.3) while ranking 3rd in FG% (53.7) and 5th in scoring (18.0). Brown scored at least 10 points in all but three games in his freshman campaign, including 10 straight to finish the regular season. He added 23 points in the MWC Tournament game against Lake Forest. Brown also grabbed at least eight rebounds in 12 straight games and finished the season with seven double-doubles.
Brown’s 473 points ranks 11th on the single-season scoring list and his 235 rebounds rank 10th. Both were all-time highs for Monmouth freshmen and his 35 blocks tied for eighth on the single-season list. Brown had 23 double-digit scoring games which ranks tied for sixth on the Monmouth single-season list. He has 11 games with at least 20 points and two with 31. He posted a season-high 20 rebounds against Principia on Dec. 13, five blocks against Knox on Feb. 11 and six assists in both games against Grinnell.
Brown and the Scots start the 2025-26 season at home against Millikin on Saturday after the women’s 5 p.m. game against Augustana.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
