Edwards Jr. and Bickerstaff Garner Sun Belt Major Awards, Three Dukes Named All-Sun Belt

NEW ORLEANS – James Madison guard Terrence Edwards Jr. has been voted the 2023-24 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year, while forward T.J. Bickerstaff has been selected as Newcomer of the Year, as three total Dukes earned All-Sun Belt recognition in the league's end-of-season awards which were announced Monday.

In addition to the major awards, Edwards Jr. was named First Team All-Sun Belt, while Bickerstaff was tabbed to the Second Team. Rounding out the accolades was guard Noah Freidel, who was voted Third Team All-Sun Belt.

Edwards becomes the first conference player of the year for JMU since Matt Lewis won Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year in 2021. It's also the sixth time that a JMU player has won a conference's top award. Bickerstaff's honor is also a first for JMU in just its second year in the Sun Belt.

JMU tied for the league lead with three All-Sun Belt selections and was the only squad to have a recipient on all three teams. Regular-season champion App State and Louisiana also had three all-conference honors each.

It's just the second time in program history that three JMU players were named either to a First, Second or Third Team in the same year, joining the 1987 squad that placed Eric Brent, Ben Gordon and John Newman on the All-CAA Second Team.

Edwards started all 31 games during the regular season, leading the Sun Belt with 17.6 points per game. He also averaged 18.1 pointer per game during league play, which was second among all players. Edwards Jr. also accrued 4.3 rebounds per game and 3.3 assists per game while shooting a single-season, career-high 81.9 percent from the free-throw line.

He produced 10 20+ point games, including a career-high 30 points in JMU's win at Georgia State on Feb. 28. Edwards Jr. was voted Sun Belt Player of the Week three times, highlighted by his 24-point performance in JMU's season-opening win at then-No. 4 Michigan State. Recently, he was named to the watch lists for both the Oscar Robertson Trophy Player of the Year and U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-America Team.

Bickerstaff started 30 of 31 games, averaging 13.9 points per game and a team-leading 8.4 rebounds per game. He also dished out 1.7 assists per game and was one of four players with double-digit blocks, finishing with 11. Bickerstaff ranked 11th in the Sun Belt in scoring and sixth in rebounding. He was also sixth in league play, grabbing 8.8 boards per conference contest.

He was named Sun Belt Player of the Week twice and also garnered Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week once, an award that Edwards Jr. also won during the season. He scored in double figures in 24 games, tallying 20+ five times. Bickerstaff had 12 games with double-digit rebounds, finishing the regular season with 10 double-doubles. Additionally, his 62.8 percent field-goal percentage ranks second in the SBC and 12th nationally.

Freidel wrapped up the regular season averaging 11.6 points per game, 5.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists, to go with a team-leading 23 blocks. He ranked fourth in the league with 2.2 three pointers per game and was eighth in three-point percentage (37.6). Freidel was also 17th in rebounds per contest.

He tallied double-figure scoring in 18 games, including a season-best 26 points twice. He also had double-digit rebounds three times, finishing with a pair of double-doubles. Additionally, he converted three or more treys in 13 games, which included six on two occasions.

The announcement of the 2023-24 All-Sun Belt teams comes following JMU finishing the regular season with a program-record 28-3 overall record with a 15-3 mark in Sun Belt play.

The Dukes earned the No. 2 overall seed for the 2024 Sun Belt Conference Championship and open postseason play at the Pensacola Bay Center on Saturday, March 9 at 8:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. CT) in the quarterfinals against the winner of No. 7 Georgia State and No. 10 Marshall.

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