FORT SMITH, Arkansas – Ouachita Baptist University's Hobert Grayson has been named the Great American Conference player of the year in more ways than one to highlight his and teammate Shaun Williams' selection to the All-GAC team for the 2024-25 season.

The GAC's men's basketball coaches voted Grayson as the league's overall player of the year, defensive player of the year, and newcomer of the year for his performance so far this season. He is also one of two unanimous selections to the All-GAC First Team. Williams also made the first team.

The honors were revealed on Wednesday evening at the GAC Championship Tournament welcome ceremony in Fort Smith. Ouachita – regular season runner-up in the league – will take on No. 7 seed Northwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday at 2:15 p.m. in the opening round at Fort Smith's Southside Arena. The game will be carried on the GAC Sports Network for free. Coverage links can be found at www.OBUtigers.com/coverage.

Grayson is in the midst of one of the most prolific seasons in Ouachita basketball history. The Gonzales, Louisiana native is the second Tiger to win both GAC player and defensive player of the year, and the third to win newcomer of the year.

Throughout the regular season, Grayson led the GAC in rebounding average (11.4) and total rebounds (318), 100 more boards than the next closest athlete. He ranks second in the league in scoring with an average of 22.3 points per game, one of three players in the conference to average more than 20 points per contest, and ranks second in total steals with 51. He recorded 21 20-plus point games this season and scored double digits in all 28 games so far. He was named GAC player of the week a total of nine times this season, equaling Ouachita's combined total over the previous 11 seasons. 

Williams was the fourth-leading scorer in the conference with 19.8 points per game. The St. Louis, Missouri native ranks third the GAC in three-point percentage (44.6) and is second in free throw percentage (84.2). He tallied 14 20-point games this season, highlighted by a 32-point performance against Southern Arkansas.

Grayson and Williams are first Tigers to be named First Team All-GAC since Lakee Westbrook earned the honor in the 2016-17 season. The two are just the fourth and fifth players in program history to earn first team honors from the GAC. This also marks the first time since 2016-17 that Ouachita has had two players represented on the All-GAC teams.

Grayson and Williams are the first pair of Tigers to both score 500 points in the same season in the NCAA era for Ouachita. They are also the first duo to combine for 1,000 points in the same season for Ouachita (1,132 points so far) since Tirrell Brown and Westbrook combined for 1,015 points in the 2015-16 season, which is the only other instance in Ouachita's NCAA era.

In addition to the All-GAC teams, senior guard MJ Leslie earned a spot on the GAC Academic Honor Roll for his efforts in the classroom this year.