UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced the 2025-26 men's basketball postseason awards on Friday (March 6). Saginaw Valley State University earned two selections, with Xavier Thomas (Detroit, Mich. / Brother Rice HS) being selected Second-Team All-GLIAC and Kevonne Taylor (Detroit, Mich. / Chandler Park HS) earning a spot on the GLIAC All-Defensive Team for the third time in his career.
Thomas led the Cardinals in scoring, averaging 16.3 points per game, which ranks eighth in the league. He appeared in 27 games and made 19 starts for the Cardinals and finished the year averaging 4.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and one steal. Thomas debuted for SVSU with a 32-point performance in the season opener against Hillsdale, a career-high for him. He scored double-digit points in all but five of his 27 appearances this season. Thomas scored 20+ points eight times and 30+ twice.
"I'm really happy for Xavier being named Second Team All-GLIAC. He's put in a tremendous amount of work, and it is great to see his hard work be recognized by this achievement," said SVSU head men's basketball coach Chris Fowler.
Taylor leads the conference in blocks (64) and blocks per game (2.37), both of which rank 11th and 10th in NCAA Division II, respectively. He put up career-high marks in scoring (7.6 ppg), rebounds (5.6 rpg), and total blocks this season. Taylor finished the year with consecutive double-doubles and totaled four of those performances during the season. He matched his career-high in blocks with seven in one game twice this year, with one of those outings earning him GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week on December 1, 2025. He also tallied a career-best 13 rebounds against Roosevelt, which was his second of four games with 10+ boards this season.
"I'm incredibly proud of Kevonne for being named to the GLIAC All-Defensive Team. His willingness to take on the toughest assignments, compete on every possession, and be a defensive anchor has been huge for our program. It's great to see his effort and impact recognized. Kevonne has helped set the standard for the type of toughness and accountability we want this program to be built on," said Fowler.