KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The National Association of Basketball Coaches has rewarded a pair of University of Tennessee at Martin stars for their 2023-24 seasons as Jordan Sears and Jacob Crews were both named to the five-man All-District 18 first team.
Voted on by NABC-member coaches across the NCAA Division I ranks, this year’s list includes 120 first-team selections across 24 districts. The Skyhawks are one of just eight programs to produce a pair of NABC All-District first-team honorees, joining Akron, Indiana State, Kansas, Louisiana Tech, McNeese, Princeton and UNC Greensboro.
Sears and Crews are the highest scoring duo in NCAA Division I men’s basketball as their 40.7 points per game leads the 40.3-point scoring average put forth by Hofstra’s Tyler Thomas (22.5 points per game) and Darlinstone Dubar (17.8). In terms of overall scoring, the tandem of Sears (692 points) and Crews (612) combined for the second-most single-season points by UT Martin teammates – trailing only Lester Hudson (847) and Marquis Weddle (565) from 2007-08.
These two Skyhawk standouts helped the program achieve its second Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship in school history (first since 2008-09) as UT Martin tied a record with 14 OVC victories while notching 21 overall wins in 2023-24.
A junior guard from Daytona Beach, Fla., Sears shattered the Skyhawks’ single-season record for free throws made (162) – a mark that had stood since the 1985-86 campaign. He also ranked in the top-five in UT Martin single-season history in scoring (692 points, third behind only two seasons of Hudson) and field goals made (227, fifth).
Sears wrapped up his second season in a Skyhawk uniform as the OVC leader in scoring at 21.6 points per game – ranking ninth nationally as he was the first UT Martin representative to top the league in that category since Hudson in 2008-09. He also ranked in the OVC’s top-10 in assists (4.5 per game, second), free throw percentage (.839, third), minutes played (33.7 per outing, fourth), field goal percentage (.432, sixth), three-point field goals made (2.4 per game, sixth), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4, eighth) and steals (1.3 per outing, ninth).
An All-OVC first team selection, the 5-11, 185-pounder had 18 games of at least 20 points and six outings of 30-plus points in 2023-24. He was a three-time OVC Player of the Week (Nov. 27, Feb. 5, March 4) who averaged 31.0 points over his last six contests – including career-highs of 37 points, nine rebounds and nine assists at Lindenwood on Feb. 22. His 1,181 career points as a Skyhawk ranks 10th in school history while his 294 free throws are the fifth-most.
As the collegiate basketball world enters the postseason, Sears is the only current NCAA Division I men’s basketball player to tally at least 650 points, 140 rebounds, 140 assists and 75 three-pointers.
Crews was electric in his debut season at UT Martin, notching All-OVC first team and OVC All-Newcomer status. The 6-8, 210-pound wing ranked second in the league in three-point field goals made (2.8 per game), second in three-point field goal percentage (.414, 21st nationally), third in scoring (19.1 points per outing), fourth in field goal percentage (.485), sixth in rebounding (8.2 per contest), sixth in free throw percentage (.816) and ninth in minutes played (33.4 per game). Against OVC competition, he upped his scoring average to 20.7 points per contest while leading the league with a scorching 43.7 percent accuracy rate (55-for-126) from three-point land.
A junior out of Hilliard, Fla., Crews equaled the most OVC Newcomer of the Week awards (five) in school history while becoming one of just five Skyhawks to win the OVC Player of the Week honor at least three times (Nov. 20, Feb. 19, Feb. 26) in a single season. His Feb. 19 and Feb. 26 mentions also coincided with back-to-back National Player of the Week awards.
Crews’ 2023-24 campaign included 612 points (seventh in school history) and 263 rebounds (ninth in program history). He became UT Martin’s first player at the NCAA Division I level to reach at least 600 points and 260 rebounds in a single season and just the second Skyhawk to ever accomplish that feat (joining Marcus Glass in 1985-86). He had 20 points or more on 16 separate occasions with four 30-plus point performances (all against OVC competitors, including a career-best 35-point eruption against Little Rock on Jan. 13). He additionally hauled in nine double-doubles.
Entering the postseason, Crews is the only active men’s college basketball player to rack up at least 600 points, 250 rebounds and 85 three-pointers in 2023-24.
The NABC was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas. The organization currently has over 5,000 members who are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes.
