# 2015–16 Southland Conference men's basketball season

The 2015–16 SLC men's basketball season was the 53rd season of Southland Conference basketball, taking place between November 2015 and March 2016. Practices began in October 2015, and the season ended with the 2016 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament.

## Preseason
### Preseason Polls
#### Coaches Poll

| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin |
| 2 | Northwestern State |
| 3 | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi |
| 4 | Sam Houston State |
| 5 | Lamar |
| 6 | Incarnate Word |
| 7 | Southeastern Louisiana |
| 8 | New Orleans |
| 9 | Houston Baptist |
| 10 | McNeese State |
| 11 | Nicholls State |
| 12 | Central Arkansas |
| 13 | Abilene Christian |

#### Sports Information Directors' Poll

| Rank | Team |
| 1 | Stephen F. Austin |
| 2 | Northwestern State |
| 3 | Texas A&M–Corpus Christi |
| 4 | Sam Houston State |
| 5 | Incarnate Word |
| 6 | Lamar |
| 7 | Southeastern Louisiana |
| 8 | McNeese State |
| 9 | Houston Baptist |
| 10 | New Orleans |
| 11 | Nicholls State |
| 12 | Central Arkansas |
| 13 | Abilene Christian |

### Preseason All-Conference Teams

Source:
| Award | Recipients |
| First Team | Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin) Jalen West (Northwestern State) Zeek Woodley (Northwestern State) Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M–Corpus Christi) Paul Baxter (Sam Houston State) |
| Second Team | Ty Charles (Stephen F. Austin) Zay Jackson (Southeastern Louisiana) Craig McFerrin (McNeese State) Kyle Hittle (Incarnate Word) Anthony Odunsi (Houston Baptist) |
Southland Conference Preseason Player of the Year: Thomas Walkup, Stephen F. Austin

## Regular season
### Head coaches

Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season. Overall and SLC records are from time at current school.
| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Seasons at school | Overall record | SLC record | NCAA Tournaments |
| Abilene Christian | Joe Golding | Arkansas–Little Rock | 5th | 45–71 | 6–26 | 0 |
| Central Arkansas | Russ Pennell | Grand Canyon | 2nd | 0–2 | 2–16 | 0 |
| Houston Baptist | Ron Cottrell | Arkansas | 25th | 18–41 | 9–27 | 0 |
| Incarnate Word | Ken Burmeister | Trinity | 10th | 39–17 | 19–13 | 1 |
| Lamar | Tic Price | North Texas | 2nd | 16–19 | 10–13 | 2 |
| McNeese State | Dave Simmons | Northwestern State | 10th | 127–152 | 80–79 | 0 |
| New Orleans | Mark Slessinger | Northwestern State | 5th | 22–33 | 14–22 | 0 |
| Nicholls State | J. P. Piper | Nicholls (assistant) | 12th | 121–201 | 76–106 | 0 |
| Northwestern State | Mike McConathy | Bossier Parish CC | 17th | 259–240 | 157–117 | 3 |
| Sam Houston State | Jason Hooten | Tarleton State | 6th | 99–69 | 53–33 | 0 |
| Southeastern Louisiana | Jay Ladner | Jones County JC | 2nd | 9–23 | 6–12 | 0 |
| Stephen F. Austin | Brad Underwood | South Carolina | 3rd | 61–8 | 35–1 | 2 |
| Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | Willis Wilson | Memphis | 5th | 50–77 | 36–34 | 0 |

## Postseason
### Southland Conference tournament

* March 9–12, 2016: Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Leonard E. Merrill Center, Katy, Texas

### NCAA tournament

* The winner of the conference tournament will be awarded an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.

### CollegeInsider.com Postseason tournament
## Awards and honors
### Regular season
#### SLC Player-of-the-Week

* Nov. 16 – Jalan West (Northwestern State)
* Nov. 23 – Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin)
* Nov. 31 – Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
* Dec. 7 – Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
* Dec. 14 – Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
* Dec. 21 – Jontrell Walker (Incarnate Word)
* Dec. 28 – Ja'Donte' Frye (Nicholls)
* Jan. 4 – Anthony Odunsi (Houston Baptist)
* Jan. 11 – Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
* Jan. 18 – Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)
* Jan. 25 – Demetrious Floyd (Stephen F. Austin)
* Feb. 1 – Kevin Hill (University of New Orleans)
* Feb. 8 – Jordan Howard (Central Arkansas)
* Feb. 15 – Zeek Woodley (Northwestern State)
* Feb. 22 –
* Mar. 1 –

### Postseason
#### SLC All-Conference Teams and Awards

| Award | Recipients |
| Coach of the Year | Brad Underwood (Stephen F. Austin) |
| Player of the Year | Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin) |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) |
| Freshman of the Year | Jaylen Franklin (Abilene Christian) |
| Newcomer of the Year | Derreck Brooks (Central Arkansas) |
| First Team | Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin) Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) Zeek Woodley (Northwestern State) Anthony Odunsi (Houston Baptist) Jordan Howard (Central Arkansas) |
| Second Team | Kyle Hittle (Incarnate Word) Jaylen Franklin (Abilene Christian) Demetrious Floyd (Stephen F. Austin) Aurimas Majauskas (Sam Houston State) Dakarai Henderson (Sam Houston State) |
| Third Team | Zay Jackson (Southeastern Louisiana) Jamaya Burr (McNeese State) Glide Geffrard (Stephen F. Austin) Hameed Ali (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) Christavious Gill (New Orleans) |
| All-Defensive Team | Rashawn Thomas (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin) Hameed Ali (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) Liam Thomas (Nicholls State) Trey Pinkney (Stephen F. Austin) |
| First Team All-Academic | Kyle Hittle (Incarnate Word) Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin) Jordan Howard (Central Arkansas) Aurimas Majauskas (Sam Houston State) Parker Wentz ( Abilene Christian) |
| Second Team All-Academic | Bryce Douvier (Texas A&M Corpus Christi) Sabri Thompson (Northwestern State) Mitchell Badillo (Incarnate Word) Reveal Chukwujekwu (Houston Baptist) Kevin Hill (New Orleans) |
| All-Tournament Team | Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin) Jared Johnson (Stephen F. Austin) Michael Holyfield (Sam Houston State) Jabari Peters (Sam Houston State) Zeek Woodley (Northwestern State) |
| Tournament MVP | Thomas Walkup (Stephen F. Austin) |