Lewis, Byington Capture CAA Awards; Morse, Amadi Earn Honors

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Senior guard Matt Lewis of the James Madison men's basketball team has been named the 2020-21 Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year, while JMU head coach Mark Byington has been tabbed the 2020-21 CAA Coach of the Year, as announced by the league on Friday afternoon.

In addition to the major awards and Lewis' accompanying First Team All-CAA nod, junior guard Vado Morse collected Third Team All-CAA honors, while freshman forward Justin Amadi was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team.

Lewis, who defended his Preseason CAA Player of the Year nod from November, capped an already-stellar JMU career with his best season yet, putting himself among the league's elite in nearly every statistical category. In addition to leading the CAA in scoring at a career-best 19.7 points per game, Lewis shot a remarkable 46.8% from the field, the third-highest clip among all eligible players in the league.

The Woodbridge, Va. native also drove the CAA's highest-scoring offense, tallying 3.7 assists per game - good for fifth-most in the league - while still tallying an even 2.0 assist/turnover ratio, the league's third-best ratio. He also improved his shooting from long range, knocking down 38.4% of his three-pointers and extending his streak of games with at least one made three to 50 consecutive contests at one point.

Lewis' selection as Player of the Year marks just the third such award in program history and the first in 30 years, as Steve Hood took home the honors in both the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons. In addition, his First Team All-CAA nod makes him the first JMU player in history to be named All-CAA in three different seasons, having taken home Third Team honors as a sophomore and Second Team honors last year as a junior.

Less than a year after his hiring, Byington has made an incredible impact on JMU Men's Basketball, taking a team that was picked to finish ninth in the CAA Preseason Poll and leading it through a challenging logistical season to the ninth CAA Regular Season Championship in program history and first No. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament since 1992-93.

This season marked the first time a team has gone from last place to first place in the CAA since Richmond accomplished the feat in the 1982-83 and 1983-84 seasons - the first of which was done when the league was still known as the ECAC South.

Byington quickly built a fast-paced JMU offense that paced the CAA in scoring at 78.5 points per game while racking up a +8.1 scoring margin, nearly four points ahead of the closest team. The Dukes got it done on both ends of the court, holding opponents to a 41.4% field goal percentage on defense, the best mark in the league.

Morse, who joined the Dukes prior to the season as a transfer, made his mark immediately, averaging 14.0 points per game alongside Lewis and knocking down 2.3 three-pointers per contest. The junior has also helped guide the JMU offense, adding 2.5 assists per game, inside the top 15 league-wide.

Amadi made a significant impact in his first collegiate season, starting 15 games for the Dukes and racking up highlight plays nearly every game. He showed remarkable consistency, hitting at 67.0% from the field, a mark that will shatter the previous JMU freshman field goal percentage record of 57.3% and would rank second in the league were he to tally enough attempts in his remaining games.

The top-seeded Dukes will open their CAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon in the quarterfinals at the Atlantic Union Bank Center, facing the winner of Saturday's matchup between No. 8 Elon and No. 9 Towson.

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