Northern Colorado’s graduate point guard Quinn Denker has been named to the Early Season Watch List for the 2025-26 Lou Henson Award, according to an announcement from CollegeInsider.com.
The Lou Henson Award is given each year to the top player in Division I men’s college basketball. The award is named after Lou Henson, a Hall of Fame coach who recorded 775 wins over his 41-year career at Illinois and New Mexico State. Henson led his teams to 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, including reaching the Final Four in 1989, and was one of only 11 coaches in NCAA history to guide two different programs to the NCAA Final Four. He died in July 2020.
Denker’s inclusion on the watch list follows a strong start to his season with Northern Colorado. Before facing South Dakota on December 6, Denker averaged 18.7 points and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 52.3 percent from the field. At that stage, he ranked first in the Big Sky Conference and fourteenth nationally in assists per game, with a total of 60 assists (seventh nationally) and maintained a 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio. He contributed by scoring or assisting on nearly one-third of Northern Colorado’s total points and was among few guards nationwide averaging more than 18 points and six assists while shooting above fifty percent from the floor. His performance earned him consecutive Big Sky Player of the Week awards.
The recipient of the Lou Henson Award will be selected by a committee made up of current and former head coaches as well as senior staff members from CollegeInsider.com. The winner will be announced during the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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