NORFOLK, Va. – After one of the best seasons for Norfolk State men's basketball, Joe Bryant Jr. has been named to the Lou Henson All-America Team and finalist for the 2022 Lou Henson National Player of the Year award. This comes on the heels of Bryant being named the HBCU National Player of the Year by BOXTOROW.

The Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I and honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach, who won 775 games in 41 seasons.

Bryant, the MEAC Player of the Year and MEAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, finished the season leading the conference in scoring with 519 points while second in scoring average with 16.7 points per game. For the second year in a row, he broke the program record for free-throw percentage. He set the record last season going 62-68 (.912) but moved the bar up higher going 130-142 (.915) this season. The percentage also ranks as the sixth best in all of Division I. He led the Spartans in the 2022 MEAC Tournament with 17.0 points and 4.7 rebounds in the three games. For his efforts he was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, becoming only the second Norfolk State player to be named the MEAC Player of the Year and Tournament Most Outstanding Player (Kyle O'Quinn, 2012).

He is the first Norfolk State player to be named an All-American since Pendarvis Williams in 2014.