Liberty forward Zach Cleveland has been named Conference USA Player of the Year while guard Brett Decker joins the senior on the first-team all-conference team, the league announced Monday. Additionally, Kaden Metheny was named to the third team, Colin Porter was named honorable mention, and JJ Harper was named to the All-Defensive Team. Liberty’s Ritchie McKay was named Co-Coach of the Year alongside Sam Houston’s Chris Mudge.

Cleveland is the first Flame to earn the CUSA Player of the Year honor in the program’s third year in the league. He is the first Liberty player to earn a conference’s Player of the Year honor since Darius McGhee won it three straight years in the ASUN from 2021-2023. Caleb Homesley was the first Liberty player to ever earn a conference Player of the Year honor, doing so in the ASUN in 2020.

Cleveland has been named All-CUSA for a third straight year, after earning third team honors in 2024-25 and second team distinction in 2023-24. Cleveland averaged 11.6 points (4th on team), 7.4 rebounds (first on team), 6.9 assists (first on team), 1.3 blocks (first on team), and 1.3 steals (2nd on team) in 30 regular season games, all starts, while shooting 62% from the field and totaling 21 double-digit scoring games (tied for 2nd on team). He ranks No. 8 in the country in assists per game and is tied for second in double doubles with 8. He notched his first triple-double, the conference’s only this season and first since 2023. Cleveland ranks fourth in program history in career assists (552), eighth in career rebounds (722), 27th in points (1,175) and second in blocks (125).

McKay receives his fourth conference coach of the year honor and first since earning back-to-back ASUN Coach of the Year awards during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 campaigns. He helped lead Liberty to the outright CUSA regular season title for a second straight year while the Flames opened the season 15-0 in CUSA play, the first team to do that since the 2012-13 Memphis team started 16-0. McKay is a finalist for three major coaching awards: 2025-26 Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award, 2025-26 Hugh Durham Award (top mid-major head coach), and 2025-26 Ben Job Award (top minority head coach).

Decker is Liberty’s leading scorer at 16.9 points per game, while also leading the team in three-pointers made (109) as well while shooting 48.9% from deep. He started all 31 regular season games, averaging 2.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game while shooting 51% from the field and 83.8% from the free throw line. He ranks second in the nation in three-point percentage, No. 8 in three-pointers per game and No. 8 in total threes, while leading CUSA in all three categories. Decker leads Liberty with 10 20-point games and 1 30-point games this season. He reached double figures 28 times during the regular season and his 109 single-season three-point makes currently ranks No. 3 in school history.

Metheny is named to an All-CUSA team for a third time in his career, earning all-CUSA second team honors last year and third team honors in 2023-24. He is Liberty’s second leading scorer at 13.4 points per game and ranks second on the team with 94 three-pointers made. He also averages 3.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 0.7 steals per game. Metheny ranks second in CUSA in three pointers per game and total triples, only trailing his teammate Decker. Metheny ranks No. 2 in CUSA with a 2.55 assist/turnover ratio and had five 20-point efforts during the regular season. He ranks third among active Division I players in career three pointers (405) and fifth in games played (161).

Porter garners all-CUSA honorable mention distinction for a second straight year, his third postseason honor overall after being named to the 2022-23 ASUN All-Freshman team. Porter was third on the team in scoring at 11.7 points per game, second on the team with 3.4 assists per game, and also averaged 3.0 rebounds while leading the team in steals and 1.4 per game. He leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio (2.56), and ranks No. 7 among active Division I players in career assist/turnover ratio (2.67). Porter is shooting 92.2% from the free throw line on the year and shooting 37.4% from three. He has started 132 games of his four-year career to date, ranking fifth in program history for career assists (510) and 26th in points (1,192).

Harper is Liberty’s second CUSA all-Defensive team member in program history, joining Joseph Venzant from the 2023-24 season. Harper is tied for the team lead in steals with 40 and second in blocks (32). He is averaging 11.0 points per game while shooting 59.2% from the field and 38% from three-point territory.

The Flames (25-6, 17-3 CUSA) won the outright CUSA regular season crown for a second straight year. The Flames return to action Wednesday evening at 6:30 Eastern in the CUSA Tournament quarterfinals. The Flames are the #1 seed and will take on the winner of Tuesday’s game between #8 seed FIU and #9 seed Missouri State at Propst Arena in Huntsville, Alabama.

2025-26 CUSA POSTSEASON AWARDS

Player of the Year: Zach Cleveland, Liberty
Defensive Player of the Year: Kashie Natt, Sam Houston
Freshman of the Year: Christian Bliss, Delaware
Sixth Player of the Year: Jacob Walker, Sam Houston
Coach of the Year: Ritchie McKay, Liberty & Chris Mudge, Sam Houston
Newcomer of the Year: Mostapha El Moutaouakkil, Jax State

All-CUSA First Team

Zach Cleveland, Liberty
Brett Decker, Liberty
Mostapha El Moutaouakkil, Jax State
RJ Johnson, Kennesaw State
Teagan Moore, Western Kentucky

All-CUSA Second Team

Christian Bliss, Delaware
Corey Stephenson, FIU
Keith Palek III, Missouri State
Jemel Jones, New Mexico State
Po’Boigh King, Sam Houston

All-CUSA Third Team

Kaden Metheny, Liberty
DJ Dudley, Louisiana Tech
Torey Alston, Middle Tennessee
Michael Osei-Bonsu, Missouri State
Kashie Natt, Sam Houston

All-CUSA Honorable Mention

Justyn Fernandez, Delaware
AC Bryant, Jax State
Colin Porter, Liberty
AJ Bates, Louisiana Tech
Kamari Lands, Middle Tennessee
Jacob Walker, Sam Houston
Elijah Jones, UTEP
Kaseem Watson, UTEP
Jamal West, Jr., UTEP
Grant Newell, Western Kentucky

CUSA All-Defensive Team

Eric Dibami, FIU
Braeden Lue, Kennesaw State
JJ Harper, Liberty
Melian Martinez, Louisiana Tech
Kashie Natt, Sam Houston

CUSA All-Freshman Team

Christian Bliss, Delaware
Eric Dibami, FIU
Trey Simpson, Kennesaw State
Jacob Walker, Sam Houston
Armelo Boone, Western Kentucky