NEW ORLEANS– Senior guard Nijal Pearson was named the 2019-20 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and was selected to the All-Sun Belt First Team on Thursday afternoon by the league office. Pearson is the first Bobcat to be selected as the Player of the Year for the Sun Belt and the second conference Player of the Year since Donte Mathis garnered the Southland Conference Player of the Year award in 1999. Overall in Pearson's career, he is a three-time All-Sun Belt selection with the last two seasons appearing on the first-team.
Pearson has been the Sun Belt Conference leading scorer for most of the 2019-20 season and currently averages 19.