VCU senior Max Shulga was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, while senior Jared Billups of George Mason was selected as Defensive Player of the Year as the league announced its awards in advance of the 2025 Men’s Basketball Championship, which begins Wednesday at Capital One Area. George Mason bench boss Tony Skinn was voted A-10 Coach of the Year.
La Salle freshman guard Deuce Jones was selected as A-10 Rookie of the Year, and VCU graduate student Zeb Jackson was won the Sixth Man of the Year award. The Chris Daniels Most Improved Player was junior Reed Bailey from Davidson.
The major awards, the three six-member All-Conference teams, and the All-Defensive and All-Rookie teams were nominated and voted on by the conference’s 15 head coaches. The men’s basketball communications directors selected the five-member All-Academic team.
Shulga, a Kyiv, Ukraine guard, led the Rams in scoring with 15.5 points per game, assists (3.8 per game) and steals (1.9 per game). He ranks third in the A-10 in steals and fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3-to-1). A two time A-10 Player of the Week, Shulga has topped 20 points eight times this season, with a pair of double-doubles. Shulga was named All-Conference First Team as well.
Billups, a senior guard from Waldorf, Md., played a pivotal role for the George Mason defense with 1.3 steals, 6.2 rebounds and 0.4 blocks per game, earning starts in 25 of the team’s 29 games. He added 5.0 points, 1.6 assists per game on the offensive side of the ball. Anchoring George Mason’s 23-ranked defense, he held opponents to shooting just 28.9 percent. Opponents also turn it over 3.3 percent more with Billups on the floor. Billups was also named to the All-Defensive Team.
Skinn led George Mason to its first A-10 regular season title, earning Co-Champions and the No. 2 seed. The Patriots set a new school record with 15 Atlantic 10 victories and started league play 12-1 for the first time in the program’s 59-year history. The Patriots 17 home wins are a school record and they had an 11-game win streak during the season under the leadership of Skinn, who was a player during George Mason’s historic Final Four run. He is the first Patriots Coach of the Year since Jim Larranaga earned the CAA honor in 2011.
Jones earned A-10 Rookie of the Week awards, the most in La Salle history. The guard form Trenton, N.J., led the Atlantic 10 in both points and assists per game by a freshman, with 12.5 and 2.7, and all freshmen nationally, he ranks in the top 40 in both categories. He also checked in at second in steals (1.6) and third in rebounds (4.1) per game amongst freshmen in the league. He was also named to the All-Rookie Team.
Jackson averaged 10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 22.1 minutes per game in earning the sixth man honors. A guard from Toledo, Ohio, he has come off the bench in 25 of his 26 appearances this season. Prolific at the charity stripe, Jackson leads the A-10 at the line, shooting .897 (78-of-87) which ranks 14th nationally. He is the first VCU player to win the Sixth Man of the Year the award since Melvin Johnson in 2014.
Bailey leads the league in scoring with 18.9 points per game, up from 12.7 points per game average from 2023-24. A forward from Harvard, Mass., he averaged 19.7 points per contest in league play. Bailey leads the A-10 in free throws attempted (221) and made (170), is second with 201 field goals made. He was also named to the All-Conference First Team.
Joining Bailey and Shulga on the All-Conference First Team were Jalen Haynes of George Mason, the Saint Joseph’s duo of Xzayvier Brown and Rasheer Fleming and Gibson Jimerson of Saint Louis.
The All-Conference second team consisted of Nate Santos of Dayton, George Washington’s Rafael Castro, Jayden Dawson from Loyola Chicago, Erik Reynolds II of Saint Joseph’s, Robbie Avila of Saint Louis and VCU’s Joe Bamisile. Enoch Cheeks (Dayton), Darius Maddox (George Mason), Rahsool Diggins (UMass), Sebastian Thomas (Rhode Island), Melvin Council, Jr. (St. Bonaventure) and Isaiah Swope (Saint Louis) were selected to the Third Team.
Santos, Jimerson, Bamisile Richmond’s Dusan Neskovic and St. Bonaventure’s Chance Moore were named to the All-Academic team. Enoch Cheeks (Dayton), Castro, Miles Rubin (Loyola Chicago), Justice Ajogbat (Saint Joseph’s and Luke Bamgboye (VCU) joined Billups on the All-Defensive Team. Dayton’s Amaël L’Etang, GW’s Christian Jones, Dasear Haskins of St. Joe’s and Bamgboye were named All Rookie-Team.
Player of the Year: Max Shulga, VCU
Defensive Player of the Year: Jared Billups, George Mason
Rookie of the Year: Deuce Jones, La Salle
Chris Daniels Most Improved Player: Reed Bailey, Davidson
Sixth Man of the Year: Zeb Jackson, VCU
Coach of the Year: Tony Skinn, George Mason
All-Conference First Team
Reed Bailey, Davidson
Jalen Haynes, George Mason
Xzayvier Brown, Saint Joseph’s
Rasheer Fleming, Saint Joseph’s
Gibson Jimerson, Saint Louis
Max Shulga, VCU
All-Conference Second Team
Nate Santos, Dayton
Rafael Castro, George Washington
Jayden Dawson, Loyola Chicago
Erik Reynolds II, Saint Joseph’s
Robbie Avila, Saint Louis
Joe Bamisile, VCU
All-Conference Third Team
Enoch Cheeks, Dayton
Darius Maddox, George Mason
Rahsool Diggins, Massachusetts
Sebastian Thomas, Rhode Island
Melvin Council Jr., St. Bonaventure
Isaiah Swope, Saint Louis
All-Academic Team
Nate Santos, Dayton
Dusan Neskovic, Richmond
Chance Moore, St. Bonaventure
Gibson Jimerson, Saint Louis
Joe Bamisile, VCU
All-Defensive Team
Enoch Cheeks, Dayton
Jared Billups, George Mason
Rafael Castro, George Washington
Miles Rubin, Loyola Chicago
Justice Ajogbor, Saint Joseph’s
Luke Bamgboye, VCU
All-Rookie Team
Amaël L’Etang, Dayton
Christian Jones, George Washington
Deuce Jones, La Salle
Dasear Haskins, SJU
Luke Bamgboye, VCU
(Release via A-10)
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