McNeese’s Sha’Markus Kennedy repeats as Southland, Louisiana player of the week

BATON ROUGE, La. – For the third time this season McNeese State University’s Sha’Markus Kennedy has been named the men’s college basketball Player-of-the-Week by the Louisiana Sports Writer’s Association. He also was named state player of the week by the Louisiana Sportswriters Association. Kennedy was selected by panel of state voters from the list of nominees for the week of Jan. 20-26, 2020.

It’s the second consecutive week and the third time overall that Kennedy has received the LSWA honor. He was the LSWA Player-of-the-Week for his play during the week of Dec. 9-15, 2019, and shared the honor last week with LSU’s Javonte Smart. It’s also the third consecutive week that a McNeese Cowboy has been honored.

Kennedy averaged a whopping 31.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in helping the Cowboys post a 2-0 record for the week and extending their winning streak to six straight games. He sank an eye-popping 25 of 28 from the field and also averaged four blocked shots a contest.

The Tuscaloosa native is currently ranked second in the NCAA in field goal percentage (69.9) and is sixth with 3.1 blocked shots per game.

McNeese (11-9, 6-3 SLC) opened the week with a 77-61 win at Southeastern Louisiana where Kennedy scored 26 points behind 11 of 13 shooting with five rebounds and five blocks, becoming the first player in the conference this season to record at least five blocked shots in five games.

This past Saturday Kennedy set a new McNeese H&HP Arena record with a career-high 37 points after sinking 14 of 15 from the field. He also reeled in 12 rebounds to give him his eighth double-double on the year and fifth in league play.

During McNeese’s win streak, Kennedy is averaging 23.5 points, 11.2 rebound and 3.8 blocks while shooting 76.9 percent from the field.

Kennedy is the fifth McNeese player of the week selection by the league this season and the third straight. A.J. Lawson garnered the honors in week 10 followed by Kennedy in weeks 11 and 12. Kennedy also earned the award in weeks two and five.

The Cowboys will return to action on Wednesday when they host Nicholls at 6:30.

LSWA Players-of-the-Week
November – LSU’s Skylar Mays
Dec. 1-8 – LSU’s Emmitt Williams
Dec. 9-15 – McNeese’s Sha’Markus Kennedy
Dec. 16-22 – Centenary’s Cedric Harris
Dec. 23-29 – Centenary’s Ty Prince
Dec. 30-Jan. 5 – ULM’s Michael Ertel
Jan. 6-12 – McNeese’s A.J. Lawson
Jan. 13-19 – McNeese’s Sha’Markus Kennedy & LSU’s Javonte Smart
Jan. 20-26 – McNeese’s Sha’Markus Kennedy