Howell/Gillom Trophy Winners announced

Each year, the Howell and Gillom trophies are given to the top men’s and women’s college basketball players respectively in the state of Mississippi.

This year, those two individual awards directly tied to team success.

Starting with Mississippi State’s Iverson Molinar, taking home the Howell Trophy, beating out Jarkel Joiner out of Ole Miss and Tyler Stevenson out of Southern Miss.

Molinar is the key to everything the Bulldogs do offensively, leading the team with more than 17 points per game.

A repeat winner in the Gillom Trophy, that being Shakira Austin out of Ole Miss, topping Anastasia Hayes out of Mississippi State and West Harrison alum Ameshya Williams-Holliday out of Jackson State.

Austin dominates the lane as well as anyone in the country, averaging more than 15 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks per game. “I’m just excited. I mean this is a great opportunity. Just to win it a second time and bring it back to Ole Miss, I’m just honored. Coach Peggy has just been there for us throughout this whole journey. I’m just grateful.”

Molinar said, “It’s been a pleasure. It’s been a pleasure to play for Mississippi State and I feel like I still have more to prove. I’ve been a student-athlete for my three years, and I just want to thank the coaches, too. It’s been an amazing year and three years and it’s been pretty awesome playing under Coach Howland, so I’m pretty happy for it.”

Austin was the first Ole Miss player to win it last year, while Molinar makes it four out of the last five for MSU.