Brown, Thomas on First Team, Taylor Second Team
by Nathan Baliva
MONMOUTH, ILL. (02/26/2026) Monmouth College sophomore Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) was named the Midwest Conference men’s basketball Player of the Year on Thursday. Brown is the first repeat winner in the MWC since Ripon’s Ty Sabin in 2017 and he joins Lance Castle as the only players in Monmouth history to win the award more than once.
Brown was also named All-Midwest Conference First Team, as was sophomore Cameron Thomas (Arlington, Texas). Senior Kyle Taylor (Moline, Illinois) was named to the Second Team. This marks the first time the Scots have put two players on the MWC First Team since 2018 and the last time Monmouth had three players on the First/Second Teams was 1998.
Brown led the Midwest Conference at 9.6 rebounds per game this season and ranked third in scoring at 19.6 points per game. He also ranks fourth in blocks per game at 1.1 and third in minutes played. Brown scored at least 11 points in all 24 games and set Monmouth records for consecutive double digits games in a season and career. He posted 12 double doubles
He was the Midwest Conference Player of the Week and a selection to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week on January 20 after scoring a career-high 34 points against Grinnell. Brown currently ranks 12th on the Monmouth single-season points list, 11th in rebounds and eighth in field goals made. He also ranks ninth in career blocks.
Thomas ranks second on the team in scoring at 16.2 points per game and has made a team-best 52 3-pointers. He ranks fifth in the MWC in scoring, fourth in shooting percentage, third in 3-point percentage and fourth in free-throw percentage. He was the Midwest Conference Player of the Week on January 26 after scoring 30 points at Lake Forest with six 3-pointers made. Thomas scored a career-high 37 points at Grinnell on Feb, 4 with six 3-pointers made and he enters the MWC Tournament 11th in 3-pointers made in single-season history.
Taylor, a two-time Academic All-District honoree, made a MWC team for the first time with his Second Team selection. He leads the Scots at 4.4 assists per game while ranking third in scoring at 11.2 points per game and fourth with 4.0 rebounds per game. Taylor leads the Scots with an 83.2 free throw percentage and 33 steals while ranking second on the team with 32 3-pointers made. This season he has 111 assists, sixth-most in a season in MC history.
Taylor scored his 1000th career point against Knox on Feb. 11 while posting a career-high nine assists. He holds the Monmouth career record with 102 games played and ranks top 10 in school history in steals, assists, 3-pointers made and attempted and free throws made and attempted.
Historically, the Scots have put two players on the MWC First Team 13 times: 1930, 1938, 1942, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1996, 2017, 2018 and 2026. Monmouth has put three players on the First/Second Teams just twice since they had a record four selections in 1989. The Scots had three selections in 1998 and 1990.
