RICHMOND, Va. – College of Charleston's Earl Grant headlined the Colonial Athletic Association Postseason Award winners earning Coach of the Year honors on Thursday night in a vote by the league's head coaches, media relations directors and members of the media.
 
In only his third year with the Cougars, Grant guided The College to its most regular-season victories since 2009 with a 23-8 overall record and a CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll ranking. CofC posted a second-place finish in the CAA with a 14-4 record, which included at least one win over all nine league foes. With no seniors in the starting lineup, the Cougars were among the top teams in the nation with 10 true road victories. They were especially strong defensively, where they topped the conference in scoring defense (63.9 ppg), field-goal percentage defense (41.7%) and three-point field goal percentage defense (30.3%).
 
Grant joins the ranks of legends John Kresse and Bobby Cremins as the only coaches in program history to be honored as conference Coach of the Year.
 
For the first time of his career and after a year of rehabilitating from an Achilles tendon season-ending injury, redshirt junior guard Joe Chealey (Orlando, Fla.) was honored on the All-CAA First Team. He ranked fifth-best among CAA scoring leaders averaging a team-best 17.2 points per game. Chealey became the 34th player in school history to record 1,000 career points this past season as well as turned in his second career 100+ assist season. He scored in double figures in 25-of-30 games of the season with 11 outings with 20-or-more points.
 
Sophomore forward Jarrell Brantley (Columbia, S.C.) was a double-award winner garnering a spot on the All-CAA Second Team and CAA All-Defensive Team. He ended the regular season on a seven-game double-digit scoring streak with four of those double-doubles and four of the last five contests with 20-point performances.
 
For the second year in a row, junior guard Cameron Johnson (Athens, Ga.) was selected to the CAA All-Defensive Team, while redshirt freshman guard Grant Riller (Ocoee, Fla.) was named to the CAA All-Rookie Team averaging 13.5 points per game during the regular season with 19 double-figure scoring games including eight with 20-or-more points.
 
Junior forward Evan Bailey (Canton, Ohio) rounded out the award winners for the Cougars as the recipient of the prestigious Dean Ehlers Leadership Award for his work in the classroom, on the court and in the community. A chemistry major and a member of the CofC Honors College, Bailey is a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, two-time CAA All-Academic Team honorees and volunteers his time locally with his church youth group and Charleston Hope.