The Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the Horizon League's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1979âÂÂ80 season, the first year of the conference's existence. Seven players have won the award multiple times: Byron Larkin, Brian Grant, Rashad Phillips, Alfredrick Hughes, Keifer Sykes, Loudon Love, and Antoine Davis. Hughes, unlike the other four who each won twice, was awarded the player of the year on three occasions.
There have only been three ties in the award's history (1981, 1983, 2022). Butler, which left for the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2012 and is now in the Big East Conference, has seven recipients, which is tied for the most all-time with Detroit Mercy. Three current members of the Horizon League have never had a winner â IU Indy, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Youngstown State. However, these schools include two of the conference's newest membersâÂÂIU Indy joined in 2017 and Purdue Fort Wayne joined in 2020. The only long-established member without a winner is Youngstown State, which joined in 2002. Future member Northern Illinois, which rejoins in 2026, did not have a recipient during its first conference tenure from 1994 to 1997.