CANTON, Ga. – Led by Defensive Athlete of the Year
Zach Fenn (Covington, La. / Saint Paul's), the Trinity University men's basketball team had five players earn All-Southern Athletic Association honors for the 2025-26 season.
In the first season under Head Coach
Marwan Elrakabawy, the Tigers tied for the SAA Regular Season Championship and will be the #2 seed at the SAA Tournament this weekend, finishing with a 20-5 overall record and a 12-2 conference mark this season.
Fenn broke Trinity's school records for single game, single season, and career steals this season. He recorded nine steals against Millsaps College (MS) in mid-January, snapping the previous record that came during the 1993-94 season. This season's 93 steals are the most-ever for a Tiger men's basketball player, breaking the previous mark of 76 set by Charles Houston in 2008-09. Houston also held the career record of 183 steals from 2005-09, which Fenn snapped earlier this year. Fenn leads Division III in both steals (93) and steals per game (3.72) this season.
Sophomore
Will Bronson (Dallas, Texas / Jesuit) earned a spot on the All-SAA First Team after ranking in the top 20 nationally in blocks (55) and blocks/game (2.20). He has 15 double-doubles this season, which is seventh in D-III, and his 65.3% field goal percentage is sixth nationally. Fellow sophomore
Jackson Lawson (Southlake, Texas / Carroll) was on the Second Team after leading the team in scoring (13.9 points/game). Fenn and junior
Dean Balo (Dallas Texas / JJ Pearce) were recognized as All-SAA Honorable Mention players, and senior
Zach Austin (Clarkston, Mich. / Clarkston) was selected to the SAA All-Sportsmanship Team. All but Balo are first-time all-conference honorees. Balo was named to the All-Freshman team in 2023-24 and was also Honorable Mention All-Conference in 2024-25.
Trinity received a bye for the first round of the SAA Tournament and will face the winner of #3 seed Centre College (KY) and #6 Sewanee (TN) on Friday, February 27, at 7:00 p.m. (ET). The tournament is being hosted by Berry College (GA) in Mount Berry, Ga. The SAA Tournament Final will be on Saturday, February 28, at 6:00 p.m. (ET).
