AUGUSTA, Ga. – Clayton State continues to make history in what is shaping up to be a historic season as they have collected a pair of All-Peach Belt Conference First-Team selections for just the second time in team history and the first ever Coach of the Year honoree as announced by the league on Thursday, March 1.
 
Just days from hosting the Peach Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament for the first time in school history, the Lakers picked up three major awards. No other team had two individuals on the First-Team and those two selections tied for the second most overall.
 
Senior guard Nathan Powell (Orlando, Fla.) and junior forward Jaylen Taylor (Hephzibah, Ga.) became just the second pair of Clayton State men's basketball players to land on the First-Team in the same season and head coach Jimmy Link was named PBC Coach of the Year, becoming the first to do so in the history of the men's program.
 
"Really happy for our guys to have two First-Team All-Conference players!" said Link. "They deserve it … those two guys come ready to play every day and have helped us have a great season."
 
Nathan Powell has steadily grown into one of the best players in program history, currently ranking third all-time in total assists with 319 and creeping up other all-time and single season categories. This season has seen him become the Lakers floor general, getting the job done any way needed when needed.
 
In 27 games and starts he has averaged 11.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.5 assists and nearly a steal a game while shooting better than 50-percent from the field and 71-percent at the foul line. He has broken both his scoring and rebounding marks on multiple occasions while surpassing the 20-point and 10-rebound plateaus five times each.
 
Highlighted by 24 points and 12 boards at Young Harris (1/31) and 27 points, 10 caroms and six assists at Flagler (2/10), the numbers are impressive. The clutch performances are even better.
 
From knocking down the game-winning jumper in the final seconds of a 63-61 win over Georgia Southwestern (2/21) on Senior Night to scoring all 18 of his points in the final 13:31 of a PBC Quarterfinal win over rival Columbus State (2/28) to bring the league tournament to Morrow, Powell has proven without a doubt to be one of the best players in the league.
 
One of the most impressive stories in the Peach Belt Conference has been the emergence of Jaylen Taylor. After averaging 2.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in just over 10 minutes a game last year, he has become one of the league's dominant big men.
 
In 27 games, all but one of them starts, he has averaged a team leading 13.4 points and 8.4 rebounds to go with a steal a game and 0.8 blocks, all while shooting nearly 54-percent from the field and 71-percent at the line. It has been a season in which he has made himself into a player other teams have to game plan around.
 
He has scored in double-figures 18 times, ripped down at least 10 boards seven times and combined the two on six occasions to account for as many double-doubles. Four times he has scored at least 20 points in a ball game and twice hauled in 14 rebounds, however, he was never more impressive than what he pulled off at Flagler (2/10).
 
In 35 minutes of action he scored a career-high 29 points to go with a career-best 15 caroms, six off the offensive glass, while swiping three steals. It is one of a multitude of times he reset personal bests throughout the season. Amongst his peers in the PBC, he currently has the fourth best rebounding average and has also been known to throw down a nasty dunk or two when the opportunity arises.
 
Leading these talented young men and their teammates, who have proven to be one of the best teams in the country, is head coach Jimmy Link. He becomes the first men's basketball coach in Laker history to be named PBC Coach of the Year. That fact is made even more impressive when considering that three other clubs during the team's DII era have produced 20-plus win seasons and the program's longest winning streak.
 
This year, Link and his team are threatening to rewrite and surpass some of those team's long held records. Currently riding a 13-game win streak, the second longest in program history, Clayton State is just four games shy of the team record of 17 set by the 2006-07 squad. That team also won 24 games, which is the Lakers Division II mark for wins.
 
They've also got the 2007-08 team in their sights for a pair of accomplishments as that group was the last team to make the NCAA Division II Tournament and did so by winning that year's PBC Tournament Championship. The latter is still the only one in team history.
 
While the Lakers will get their chance this weekend to add to that championship history it is already a virtual certainty they will catch that club with a return to the Big Dance as the No. 3 ranked team in the Southeast Region.
 
And speaking of rankings, Clayton State has already caught another team from that same era as the 2008-09 club was the last one to appear in a national poll. That fact fell by the wayside this week as Link's team cracked the D2SIDA Media Poll in a tie for No. 25, now with a 22-5 overall mark and 19-3 record against PBC competition.
 
The latter is perhaps the most impressive as the program had never won more than 15 league games (2001-02) and played the most ever this year. Through a schedule that featured two games against every team, more than one of which will find their way to the NCAA Tournament field, Link and the Lakers fought their way to a second consecutive Peach Belt Conference Regular Season Championship, something that Clayton State had never before accomplished.
 
"Winning coach of the year is a recognition of how great my staff was and how great and on board this team has been all year!" added Link. "Really proud of this team."
 
Historically, the selections of Powell and Taylor mark five straight years that the Lakers have had at least one player named to the All-Peach Belt Conference Team and brings the total to 10 over the past eight years.
 
It is just the second time that Clayton State has had a pair of First-Team selections in the same season, with the only other coming in 2010-11 with Timmy Downs and Brandon Robinson. Just one other time have they had multiple honorees in a year and that came the following season in 2011-12 with Anthony Salter and Teondre Williams.
 
This is the first time in the history of Laker men's basketball that they have collected three awards in the same season.
 
2018 Peach Belt Conference Men's Basketball Regular Season Awards
All-Conference First-Team
Detrek Browning, Francis Marion
Doniel Dean, USC Aiken
Tamyrik Fields, Augusta
Nigel Grant, UNC Pembroke
Nathan Powell, Clayton State
Jaylen Taylor, Clayton State
 
All-Conference Second-Team
Jacori Payne, Columbus State
Akia Pruitt, UNC Pembroke
R.J. Sessions, Georgia Southwestern
Brandon Watts, UNC Pembroke
 
All-Conference Third-Team
Shaquan Cantrell, North Georgia
Vaughn McCall, Flagler
Brandon Parker, Francis Marion
Rahu Purdie, Lander
Markus Terry, USC Aiken
 
Player of the Year
Detrek Browning, Francis Marion
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Akia Pruitt, UNC Pembroke
 
Freshman of the Year
Jordan Thomas, Georgia College
 
Coach of the Year
Jimmy Link, Clayton State
 
 
All-PBC Conference Selections - All-Time (21 selections/18 different individuals)
2017-18 (2)
Nathan Powell, First-Team
Jaylen Taylor, First-Team
 
2016-17 (1)
Alfonso Davis, First-Team
 
2015-16 (1)
Alfonso Davis, Second-Team
 
2014-15 (1)
Kelsey Terry, Third-Team
 
2013-14 (1)
Charles Shedrick, Third-Team
 
2011-12 (2)
Anthony Salter, Second-Team
Teondre Williams, Second-Team
 
2010-11 (2)
Timmy Downs, First-Team
Brandon Robinson, First-Team
 
2009-10 (1)
Robert Murry, Second-Team
 
2008-09 (1)
Bernard Fields, Third-Team
 
*2007-08 (1)
Michael Sloan
 
*2006-07 (1)
Todd McLaurin
 
*2005-06 (1)
Todd McLaurin
 
2004-05 (1)
Craig Butts, First-Team
 
2003-04 (1)
B.J. Puckett, Second-Team
 
2002-03 (1)
Jamal Johnson, Second-Team
 
2001-02 (1)
Kareen Harris, Second-Team
 
1998-99 (1)
Robert Conley, First-Team
 
1997-98 (1)
Robert Conley, Second-Team
*Indicates Only One Team