WKU Basketball: Don McHenry Positioning Himself as a Clear Contender for Conference USA Player of the Year

McHenry has scored at least 20 points in his last four games.

Courtesy: Grace Ramey, BGDN

Don McHenry looked like a really nice prospect with some potential for explosive play, but did WKU fans or even coaches really anticipate a player that could have multiple games with 20 point halves in his first season on The Hill?

Well, fast forward to now, and Henry is one of only two (Kyle Rode, Liberty) players in CUSA to get the honor in multiple weeks. McHenry has looked capable of even more, even having some halves where he barely scored, only to bust into the second half and drop 20 in less than 20 minutes of playing time during one half.

2023-24 CUSA Players of the Week

11/13      Kyle Rode, Liberty

11/20     Kyle Rode, Liberty

11/27      Lamar Wilkerson, Sam Houston

12/4       Arturo Dean, FIU

12/11       Elias King, MTSU

12/18      Don McHenry, WKU

12/26      Zid Powell, UTEP

1/1         Khristian Lander, WKU

1/8        KyKy Tandy, Jax State

1/15       Daniel Batcho, LA Tech

1/22      Otis Frazier III, UTEP

1/29      Jestin Porter, MTSU

2/5        Zach Cleveland, Liberty

2/12       Don McHenry, WKU

. . .

Second overall in scoring at 16.0 points per game, in conference play, McHenry is averaging 17.5 points and has scored less than 15 one time. He also shoots efficiently, has a positive assist to turnover ratio, and rebounds decently for a 6’2” guard. Perhaps Kyky Tandy would be your favorite, or Jordan Crawford or Daniel Batcho from La Tech. And there are other that may be in the running like Lamar Wilkerson, Kyle Rode, and UTEP’s Tay Hardy.

However, is there a player hotter than Don McHenry right now in CUSA? And isn’t he one of two with the most weekly awards at this point? That’s generally a pretty good sign of things to come, and you can almost bet McHenry does it again another week or two. Don McHenry is second in CUSA in points despite being 12th in the conference in minutes played and 12th in made threes per game. He does most of his damage by driving in and dropping in a brilliant floater or blowing past a defender and getting to the cup for an and-one or an uncontested layup in the half court or on the fast break.

I’m sure it all comes down to who does what down the stretch, but Western Kentucky has a heck of a player in Don McHenry. Watch out for him heading into March, and watch out for him to singlehandedly make game changing runs for his team.