South Alabama’s Richie Riley is Sun Belt Conference Joe Gottfried Coach of the Year in men’s basketball, the league office announced Monday.

Riley led the Jaguars to a 21-10 overall record and finished tied for first in the Sun Belt with a 13-5 conference record, claiming a share of the league championship for the first time since 2008. South Alabama will be the No. 1 seed for the Sun Belt tournament, which begins Tuesday in Pensacola, Fla.

Coming off a 16-16 finish a year ago, South Alabama was picked to finish 11th in the Sun Belt by league coaches in the preseason. However, the Jaguars won their first four Sun Belt games and seven of their final eight to finish tied with Arkansas State, James Madison and Troy — who were picked 1-2-3 in the preseason — in the final regular-season standings.

The 42-year-old Riley is 131-93 in seven seasons at South Alabama, which had endured five straight losing seasons prior to his arrival in 2018. He was Southland Conference Coach of the Year that year, when he led Nicholls to a 21-11 record and the regular-season league championship.

Riley is South Alabama’s first Sun Belt Coach of the Year in men’s basketball since Ronnie Arrow in 2007-08. Arrow also won the award — named for longtime USA athletics director Joe Gottfried — in 1988-89 and 1990-91, with Cliff Ellis (1978-79), Bob Weltlich (1999-2000) and John Pelphrey (2005-06) also claiming the honor.

In addition to Riley’s honor, junior forward Barry Dunning was named a first-team all-conference selection. The Mobile native — who transferred in from UAB — leads the Jaguars in scoring (14.7 points per game) and rebounding (7.0 per game), and had the two highest single-game point totals in the Sun Belt this year — 46 points vs. Texas State on Feb. 22 and 34 (also vs. the Bobcats) on Feb. 15.

Dunning is joined on the first team by Troy’s Tayton Conerway, James Madison’s Mark Freeman, Arkansas State’s Taryn Todd and Appalachian State’s Myles Tate. Conerway was selected as Sun Belt Player of the Year.

James Madison’s Bryce Lindsay was named both Sixth Man and Freshman of the Year. Other individual award-winners were Freeman (Newcomer of the Year) and Marshall’s Obinna Anochili-Killen (Defensive Player of the Year).

South Alabama guard Myles Corey picked up third-team All-Sun Belt honors. The graduate transfer from Ontario, Calif., averages 13.8 points and a team-best 4.4 assists per game.

South Alabama (21-10 overall, 13-5 Sun Belt) has a bye all the way to the semifinal round of the conference tournament, which begins Tuesday in Pensacola, Fla. The Jaguars will play their first game against a to-be-determined opponent at 5 p.m. Sunday.

The full list of 2024-25 Sun Belt Conference postseason men’s basketball awards and all-conference teams:

Individual awards

Player of the Year: Tayton Conerway, Troy

Defensive Player of the Year: Obinna Anochili-Killen, Marshall

Sixth Man of the Year: Bryce Lindsay, James Madison

Newcomer of the Year: Mark Freeman, James Madison

Freshman of the Year: Bryce Lindsay, James Madison

Joe Gottfried Coach of the Year: Richie Riley, South Alabama

First-team All-Sun Belt

Tayton Conerway, Troy

Barry Dunning, South Alabama

Mark Freeman, James Madison

Myles Tate, Appalachian State

Taryn Todd, Arkansas State

Second-team All-Sun Belt

Obinna Anochili-Killen, Marshall

Cesare Edwards, Georgia State

Denijay Harris, Southern Miss

C.J. Huntley, Appalachian State

Tylan Pope, Texas State

Third-team All-Sun Belt

Myles Corey, South Alabama

Sean Durugordon, Old Dominion

Adante’ Holiman, Georgia Southern

Bryce Lindsay, James Madison

Izaiyah Nelson, Arkansas State