HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Northern Kentucky men's basketball student-athlete Drew McDonald was named to the Lou Henson Award Preseason Watch List. The 2019 Lou Henson Award will be presented at the College Insider awards event in April at the site of the men's Division I national championship in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The award is presented annually to the nation's top mid-major player in college basketball.
 
Lou Henson coached for 41 years and accumulated 779 Division I wins, which ranked sixth all-time when he left the game in 2005. Henson is also one of only 12 coaches to take two schools to the Final Four.
 
McDonald, a senior forward and native of Cold Spring, Kentucky, was named to the 2018 Lou Henson All-American team after being on both the Preseason and Mid-Season Watch List last season. The Lou Henson All-American Team honors the top-40 mid-major men's basketball players. McDonald also helped lead the United States to a gold medal in the 1^st FISU America Games in Sao Paulo, Brazil this past summer.
 
Earlier this season, McDonald was selected as the 2017-18 Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year, a Naismith Hall of Fame Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Candidate, and has already earned a Nike Horizon League player of the week.
 
So far this season, McDonald is averaging 19.7 points and 9.9 rebounds, which respectively rank 67^th and 29^th in the nation. Under McDonald's leadership, the Norse are 6-1 and off to their best start of the Division I era.
 
2018-19 Lou Henson Award Watch List
Kyle Allman               6-3      Sr.        Cal State Fullerton
Francis Alonso           6-3      Sr.        UNC Greensboro
Jordan Barnes           5-11    Jr.        Indiana State
Gary Blackston           6-2      Sr.        Prairie View A&M
Shannon Bogues       6-2      Sr.        Stephen F. Austin
Jarrell Brantley          6-7      Sr.        Charleston
Keith Braxton                        6-4      Jr.        Saint Francis PA
A.J. Brodeur                6-8      Jr.        Penn
Tookie Brown 5-11    Sr.        Georgia Southern
Devontae Cacok         6-7      Sr.        UNCW
Chris Clemons           5-9      Sr.        Campbell
Clayton Custer           6-1      Sr.        Loyola Chicago
Mike Daum                6-9      Sr.        South Dakota State
James Dickey             6-10    Jr.        UNC Greensboro
Jordan Ford               6-1      Jr.        Saint Mary's
Jakeenan Gant           6-8      Sr.        Louisiana
Tyler Hall                   6-5      Sr.        Montana State
Jerrick Harding          6-1      Jr.        Weber State
Jeremy Harris                        6-7      Sr.        Buffalo
Cameron Jackson      6-8      Sr.        Wofford
Nathan Knight           6-10    Jr.        William & Mary
John Konchar            6-5      Sr.        Fort Wayne
Cameron Krutwig     6-9      So.       Loyola Chicago
Anthony Lamb           6-6      Jr.        Vermont
Loudon Love              6-9      So.       Wright State
Fletcher Magee          6-4      Sr.        Wofford
C.J. Massinburg          6-3      Sr.        Buffalo
Garrison Matthews   6-5      Sr.        Lipscomb
Nick Mayo                  6-9      Sr.        Eastern Kentucky
Drew McDonald        6-8      Sr.        Northern Kentucky
Matt Mooney             6-3      Sr.        South Dakota
Ja Morant                   6-3      So.       Murray State
Matt Morgan              6-2      Sr.        Cornell
Nick Perkins               6-8      Sr.        Buffalo
Ed Polite Jr.                6-5      Sr.        Radford
Vasa Pusica                6-5      Sr.        Northeastern
Matt Rafferty             6-8      Sr.        Furman
Isaiah Reese               6-5      Jr.        Canisius
Grant Riller                6-4      Jr.        Charleston
Ahmaad Rorie            6-1      Sr.        Montana
Jaelan Sanford           6-4      Sr.        Toledo
T.J. Shorts                   5-9      Sr.        UC Davis
James Thompson IV  6-10    Sr.        Eastern Michigan
Seth Town                  6-7      Jr.        Harvard
D'Marcus Simonds    6-3      Jr.        Georgia State
Jordan Varnado         6-6      Sr.        Troy
Dylan Windler           6-7      Sr.        Belmont
Justin Wright-Foreman     6-1      Sr.        Hofstra
Milik Yarbrough        6-6      Sr.        Illinois State
Akwasi Yeboah          6-6      Jr.        Stony Brook