LONG BEACH, Calif. -- The Pacific West Conference released the 2025-26 Scholar-Athletes of the Year today, and Vanguard received three honorees for the prestigious award, a first for VU.  Both basketballs got a laurel, as Kaylee Byon was named a co-winner for women's basketball, while Erik Howlin was the lone winner for men's hoops in the conference.  The final selection was Kaylee Best from women's track & field.  The award combines athletic and academic success and is voted on by the sport information directors in the league, with the winners put on a ballot sent to the athletic directors of the conference for voting for the Male & Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year.  

Byon was the PacWest Player of the Year and a First Team All-Conference player in 2025-26, with a All-Region First Team nod as well.  Averaging 14.4 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game, and 5.9 assists per contest, Byon led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio, ending second in the region and third across the NCAA Division II.  She posted the 13th-most assists in a single season in VU history and helped the Lions secure the first PacWest regular season and tournament titles in school history, along with an NCAA Tournament appearance.  She had a successful run in the classroom too, finishing her degree in kinesiology and graduating in the spring.
 
Howlin concluded his collegiate career with his best season, landing on the First Team All-Conference, the First Team All-Region, and the Second Team for the College Sports Communicators Academic All-American list.  He averaged 19.2 points per game, shot 51.9% from the floor, and never scored less than 10 points in a contest.  He led the league in scoring and assisted the Blue and Gold to its first PacWest Tournament appearance.  Howlin thrived in his master's program, earning high marks and completing his degree in industrial organizational psychology.
 
Best demonstrated that freshman can set the world on fire, as she reset VU records throughout the year in the triple and long jump events.  Not satisfied with dominating the Vanguard book, Best took the first PacWest individual championships for the Lions in both events and qualified for the National Championships, another first.  She went on to place 13th in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump to become an All-American in her first season.  She did not falter with a collegiate class load, as Best began her journey as a biology major with excellent marks.

The athletic directors will vote on the male and female winners next week.