DALLAS, Texas – FIU's Arturo Dean was named the Conference USA Freshman of the Year and Denver Jones was tabbed a First Team All-Conference USA selection to highlight Tuesday's postseason awards, as announced by the league office. Dean also received All-Defensive Team and All-Conference Honorable Mention honors, in addition to sharing All-Freshman Team accolades alongside classmate Dashon Gittens, to cap several program milestones among FIU's all-conference recognition.
 
Dean marks FIU's first Freshman of the Year honoree since joining the Conference USA in 2013, while becoming the first Panther to earn Freshman of the Year and all-conference accolades as a rookie since 2009 (Freddy Asprilla, Sun Belt).
 
Additionally, Dean marks the first freshman to earn All-Defensive Team recognition in program history and first freshman to do so among the C-USA since Western Kentucky's Charles Bassey in 2019.
 
Denver Jones becomes the first Panther to notch First Team All-C-USA recognition in program history, becoming just the ninth first-team selection overall at FIU, while marking the program's first first-team selection since Tymell Murphy in 2013 (Sun Belt).
 
Furthermore, Dashon Gittens and Arturo Dean mark FIU's first All-Freshman honorees in program history, in addition to becoming the first C-USA team to land multiple all-freshman honorees since 2018 (UTSA).
 
Dean, a native of Miami, Fla., has put together one of the most prolific freshman seasons in program history, racking up a program record four C-USA Freshman of the Week honors over the course of the season, while setting a single-season record for steals by a freshman at FIU with 76 and counting on the season. Through 22 starts, Dean leads all freshmen amongst the C-USA in scoring (11.6 ppg), having net double figures in 22 of 31 games played, while leading the league in steals and ranking top-10 nationally for the category – fifth in steals and eighth in steals per game (2.5). The freshman has tallied 14 games with three or more steals this season, while Dean also contributes to FIU in several other ways, pacing the squad in assists (3.7), total rebounds (126) and ranking second in rebounds per game (4.1).
 
Dean continues to leave his mark among FIU's freshman single-season records, sitting first all-time in single-season steals (76), second in assists (115), third in field goals made (148), fifth in points (360) and ninth in scoring average (11.6) and rebounds (126) by a first-year.
 
Jones, a native of New Market, Ala., earns well-deserved first team recognition after finishing second in the league in scoring (20.0 ppg) while surpassing the 500-point mark on the season – marking just the 10^th Panther in program history to do so in a season. Jones' 539 points on the season rank fifth all-time in single-season points at FIU, as the sophomore has tallied double figures in 25 of 27 games played this season, including 16 20-point outings this year. Jones eclipsed his career-high in scoring on four different occasions this season, highlighted by a 30-point performance in FIU's regular season finale at Rice on Saturday (Mar. 4), while doing so on efficient percentages of 48.1 percent from the field and 85.5 percent from the stripe – both ranked second among the league – and 36.2 percent from three.
 
Jones sits 26^th in the nation in scoring at 20.0 points per game, while having averaged 20.8 ppg in conference games, as the sophomore also sits on the potential to become the first Panther to average 20 points in a season since Carlos Arroyo in 2001 (21.2 ppg).
 
Gittens, a native of Hartford, Conn., shines as the other half of FIU's inaugural All-Freshman selections, having notched C-USA Freshman of the Week honors twice this season on averages of 7.0 points and 2.4 rebounds through 18 starts. The freshman has tallied double figures in 10 games this season, highlighted by a career-high 17 against UTEP on Feb. 23, on percentages of 48.4 percent shooting from the field. Gittens has tallied two or more threes in five games for the Panthers, shooting at a 35.3 percent clip from beyond the arc on the season.
 
Between Dean and Gittens, the two freshman have combined for six of the C-USA's 17 Freshman of the Week awards this season.
 
UP NEXT
The seventh-seeded Panthers are slated to face No. 10 Louisiana Tech in Wednesday's (Mar. 8) First Round of the Conference USA Men's Basketball Championship presented by TotalCare.
 
Tip-off is slated for a 9 p.m. ET start to be broadcast on ESPN+ at the Ford Center at the Star in Frisco, Texas.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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