Jacksonville, FL – After earning the first Atlantic Sun Conference Championship in program history, the Austin Peay State University (APSU) basketball team earned a record six league postseason awards, with Collin Parker being named the ASUN Newcomer of the Year and a First Team All-ASUN selection, Zyree Collins being tabbed the ASUN Freshman of the Year, a Third Team All-ASUN recipient, and a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman Team, and Rashaud Marshall garnering Second Team All-ASUN honors, the league announced Tuesday.
Austin Peay State University’s six postseason honors are the most in program history and surpass the five it earned following the 1996-97 and 2017-18 Ohio Valley Conference seasons. The Governors’ three all-conference selections also tied for the most in a single season, and just the fifth time APSU has accomplished such in program history.
With his postseason distinctions, Parker becomes the first player in program history to be named the ASUN Newcomer of the Year and a First Team All-ASUN selection. He is the first Gov to earn newcomer of the year honors since Trenton Hassell was tabbed the 1999 OVC Newcomer of the Year and is the first Gov to earn first team all-conference selection since Terry Taylor following the 2020-21 OVC campaign.
Parker led Austin Peay State University and ranked fifth in the league with 18.1 points per game, while also averaging 21.4 points per contest during the league calendar. He was the only player in the ASUN to finish top 12 across the league in points, rebounds (6.1), and assists (3.2) per game. Additionally, the graduate forward was the only player in the league to finish top 10 in field-goal percentage (48.6), three-point percentage (42.0), and free throw percentage (82.6), with his three-point and free throw percentage ranking second and third in the league, respectively.
Parker tallied six of APSU’s top seven scoring nights, with four coming in league play. He had a career-high 39 points – one of his four 30-point outings on the year – on the road against Queens in mid-February. His performance was the highest-scoring game by any player in AUSN play this season and earned him Lou Henson National Player of the Week honors, making him the lone player across the league to earn the distinction.
A league-best six-time weekly award winner, Parker had a program-record six-straight games with 20-plus points per game from January 28th to February 11th and enters the 2026 ASUN Men’s Basketball Tournament on a team-best 10-game streak with at least 10 points – a stretch in which he currently is averaging 24.8 points per game in.
Collins is the second Governor to earn ASUN Freshman of the Year recognition, and the first since Tate McCubbin following last season. He also becomes the ninth player in program history to earn a conference’s top freshman honor.
Collins led all ASUN freshmen in points (13.5), assists (4.3), and steals (2.3) per game, with his steals ranking 16th in the NCAA and first amongst his class and his assists being fifth in the ASUN and 16th among all Division I freshmen.
The December 15th and January 12th ASUN Player and Newcomer of the Week – one of two players (Parker being the other), to sweep the ASUN weekly awards – Collins averaged 13.6 points, 4.2 assists, and 2.4 steals per game against the ASUN. The St. Louis, Missouri native scored a career-high 26 points against North Alabama in early February and, just one week later, dished out a season-high 14 assists in the Govs’ February 14th victory against Bellarmine. His 14 dimes were the third-most in program history, the second-most of any player in the ASUN, and were an APSU freshman record. Collins then broke the freshman record with seven steals at North Florida which were tied for the most in the ASUN this season.
Collins was the only player in the ASUN with multiple games of at least six steals, a feat he accomplished three times. He picked up multiple steals in 17 games across the regular season, with at least one 26 times and in 17-of-18 ASUN outings.
Marshall ranked top 10 in the ASUN in points (15.5), rebounds (6.5), and blocks (1.0) per game while starting 26-of-29 games, including all 18 ASUN contests.
The junior forward’s 65.6 field-goal percentage ranked ninth nationally and second in the ASUN, while his 85 offensive rebounds and 118 free throws were third and fourth in the league, respectively. After coming off the bench during the first three games of the season, Marshall has since started each of the last 26 at the pivot spot for the APSU Govs.
After matching his career-high with 14 points against his former school, Ole Miss, in November, Marshall logged the first 20-point game of his career with 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor at Kent State, Dec. 3, before again extending his career-high to 24 in the nonconference finale against Fisk.
Marshall scored in double figures 15 times, with six 20-point outings. He ended the ASUN slate with three contests of at least 25 points in the final four games, including a career-high 37 points in the season finale. He also hauled in a career-best 14 rebounds and seven offensive boards – both the most by a Gov during the 2025-26 season – at North Florida, which earned him ASUN Player and Newcomer of the Week recognition.
With Parker, Collins, and Marshall’s All-ASUN selections, Austin Peay State University now has had 103 in program history, dating back to the 1946-47 season when the Governors were members of the Volunteer State Athletic Conference. In program history, the Govs have had three all-conference selections just four times.
In addition, the APSU Govs’ athletic achievements, three Govs – Parker, Anton Brookshire, and Creighton Morisch – also earned Academic All-ASUN honors.
After graduating from Columbia College last year, Parker currently has a 4.0 grade-point average while working towards a master’s degree in business administration.Brookshire, who earned his bachelor’s degree from APSU in May 2025, currently has a 3.8 GPA while pursuing a master’s degree in health and human performance with a concentration in performance enhancement and coaching.
Morisch, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Sioux Falls before coming to APSU, currently has a 4.0 GPA while pursuing a master’s degree in health and human performance with a concentration in performance enhancement and coaching.
The Governors’ three Academic All-ASUN Team honors are its most in program history, after APSU earned its first academic honor by the league last season.
2025-26 ASUN Men’s Basketball Postseason Honors
Player of the Year: Camren Hunter, Central Arkansas
Defensive Player of the Year: Isaiah Malone, FGCU
Newcomer of the Year: Collin Parker, Austin Peay
Sixth Man of the Year: Josh Smith, West Georgia
Freshman of the Year: Zyree Collins, Austin Peay
Coach of the Year: John Shullman, Central Arkansas
Scholar Athlete of the Year: Kamrin Oriol, North Florida
First Team All-ASUN
^Camren Hunter Central Arkansas
Collin Parker Austin Peay
Jack Karasinski Bellarmine
Grant Asman Lipscomb
Shelton Williams-Dryden West Georgia
Second Team All-ASUN
Rashaud Marshall Austin Peay
Ty Robinson Central Arkansas
J.R. Konieczny FGCU
Kamrin Oriol North Florida
Yoav Berman Queens
Third Team All-ASUN
Zyree Collins, Austin Peay
Montavious Myrick, EKU
Mateo Esmeraldo, Lipscomb
Avantae Parker, Queens
Colin Kuhl, Stetson
All-Freshman Team
^Zyree Collins, Austin Peay
Ty Robinson, Central Arkansas
Jordan Ellerbee, FGCU
Hayden Wood, Jacksonville
Jordan Watford, Queens
^Denotes Unanimous Decision
