OXFORD, Ohio- The River States Conference unveiled the major award winners for the 2025-26 men's basketball season on Friday, a day ahead of the semifinal round of the River States Conference Tournament. The big winner was Rio Grande's Delon McCloud, who was honored by the league as the 2026 Player and Newcomer of the Year. The Bears of Shawnee State University were represented by head coach Fred Lymas, the 2026 RSC Coach of the Year.

Rio Grande's Delon McCloud, who has been the catalyst for a RedStorm team that has played their way onto the doorstep of an NAIA Tournament berth, earned both RSC Player and Newcomer of the Year honors. McCloud has averaged 21.3 points per game, a mark that ticks up to 22.8 in conference play. He is very nearly a 40-50-90 shooter, shooting 41.9 percent from three-point territory, 49.1 percent from the field, and 88.9 percent from the line. He has been especially good down the stretch, scoring 20 or more points in eleven of Rio's last 12 games.

As selected by a vote of his peers, the 2026 RSC Coach of the Year is Shawnee State's Fred Lymas. In his first season as the head coach of the Bears, Lymas led Shawnee State to a 15-1 conference record and an automatic berth into the NAIA Tournament. Under the direction of Lymas, who came to Shawnee State after a season as an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Florida A&M, the Bears enter play on Saturday with a 24-5 record. 

The 2026 River States Conference Tournament continues Saturday with two semifinal games. Shawnee State will host IU Southeast at 2:00 p.m., while IU Kokomo will welcome Rio Grande at 3:00 p.m. The RSC championship game will be played Tuesday night at the home gym of the highest remaining divisional seed.