Birmingham, AL— The Gulf South Conference Men and Women’s Basketball All-Decade Teams are filled with players from 11 women and 13 men’s teams. No program had more than three players selected and just one – Delta State’s women’s team – is still in the conference today. Montevallo’s men (all first-team picks) and Central Arkansas’ women both joined the Lady Statesmen with three players selected.
            Central Arkansas guard Carone Harris was selected women’s GSC West Division Player of the Decade.  Harris led her team to the Elite 8 in 2003, was a three-time GSC Player of the Year and a two-time South Region Player of the Year.  She scored 2,447 points during her career and also owns the NCAA record for career steals, four conference records and a slew of school marks. The women’s GSC East Division Player of the Decade is West Georgia guard Tai Ellis. The 2006 GSC East Player of the Year was a three-time All-GSC East first team choice who averaged 18.5 points per game throughout her career. After scoring more than 21 points per game as a senior, she was named South Region Player of the Year and a second-team All-American.
            Current Valdosta State head coach Kiley Hill is the GSC East Division Coach of the Decade.  In eight seasons, Hill has won 190 games, making eight GSC Tournament appearances and five NCAA Regional tournaments while winning three Division titles.  He was also named GSC Coach of the Year in 2007 and 2010.  Current Delta State head coach Sandra Rushing is the GSC West Division Coach of the Decade.  Over the last eight seasons, Rushing has led the Lady Statesmen to 204 wins – including three 30-win campaigns. DSU has won five GSC titles – including four consecutive from 2006-09 – and she has won Coach of the Year five times. The team has also appeared in five Regional and two Elite 8 tournaments.  
                Montevallo guard Marcus Kennedy earned the men’s GSC East Division Player of the Decade award.  Kennedy helped the Falcons to the South Region title in 2007 with a half-court, buzzer beater. He was a first team All-American and two –time GSC East Player of the Year. His 2,173 career points are third all-time in GSC annuls and currently holds nine school records. The men’s GSC West Division Player of the Decade is Harding forward Matt Hall. He’s one of only two people in GSC history to become a three-time GSC West Player of the Year. He was also the West Division Freshman of the Year in 2004 and the South Region Player of the Year in 2005. The two-time scoring champion had 2,227 career points - second all-time in the GSC – and is also the conference leader in free throws attempted.
            Former Delta State head coach Steve Rives is the GSC West Division Coach of the Decade.  During the last decade, Rives – whose career with the Statesmen ended in 2006 – went 122-55, capped by the best year in school history when DSU finished 30-2 and won the GSC championship in 2006. After that season, Rives won GSC, Region and National Coach of the Year Honors. Montevallo head coach Danny Young is the GSC East Division Coach of the Decade.  In six seasons before the school left the GSC, Young won 133 games, making the GSC Tournament every season. The Falcons won the GSC title three times and the South Region title twice. Young was also named GSC Coach of the Year from 2005-07 and was named Region Coach of the Year in 2007.
            Valdosta State is the decade’s top men’s basketball program, tallying 115 out of a possible 161 All-Sports Trophy points for a 71 percent mark the past 10 seasons.  The Blazers won at least a share of four GSC East titles, made five NCAA Tournaments and won the 2010 South Region title. Delta State is the top women’s basketball team of the decade, garnering 145.5 points out of a possible 164 points. The Lady Statesmen won six GSC titles – including four straight from 2006-09 – and three South Region championships under two different head coaches.
            Players could only be nominated for the All-Decade Team if they competed in at least two seasons during the decade and were also named to the All-GSC First Team at least once.  Each squad was broken up into First and Second Teams and Players and Coaches of the Decade were selected.  The Conference also recognized the best Teams of the Decade using a formula based on how a school’s team finished in the All-Sports Trophy standings the past 10 years.  Harding University Sports Information Director Scott Goode spearheaded the computation of each school’s team-point-total based on the simple formula of All-Sports points earned divided by All-Sports points possible during the decade.  The resulting score is the percentage of All-Sports points earned during the decade per sport. The formula included only the seasons that each school sponsored the respective sport.  A score of 100 indicates that the team earned the maximum number of points (i.e. - won the conference championship) in each season in the decade.

 WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

East Division Player of the Decade                 West Division Player of the Decade
Tai Ellis, UWG                                           Carone Harris, UCA

East Division Coach of the Decade                  West Division Coach of the Decade
Kiley Hill, VSU                                           Sandra Rushing, DSU

MEN’S BASKETBALL

East Division Player of the Decade                             West Division Player of the Decade
Marcus Kennedy, UM                                          Matt Hall, HU

East Division Coach of the Decade                              West Division Coach of the Decade
Danny Young, UM                                              Steve Rives, DSU

TOP TEAMS 

Note: ASPE (All-Sports Points Earned); ASPP (All-Sports Points Possible)