Daytona State’s Tyrese Lacey wins FCSAA basketball scholar-athlete honor

Tyrese Lacey turned a 3.65 GPA, an honors graduation in May and a nation-leading 7.0 assists per game into Florida’s top men’s junior-college academic basketball honor. The Daytona State point guard won the FCSAA’s Hal Chasey Award on June 26, placing him among the state’s 2026 Scholar-Athlete of the Year winners across 13 sports.

Lacey’s profile matched the award’s name. He served as a two-year starter and team captain for Daytona State, helped the Falcons reach back-to-back NJCAA National Tournaments and finished the 2025-26 season as one of the most productive guards in the country. He averaged 13.2 points per game and added 239 assists, 56 steals and a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio across 34 games and 34 starts, while also posting 86 turnovers. Listed at 5-foot-9 and 155 pounds, the sophomore from Birmingham, England gave Daytona State a steady lead guard who could create offense and manage possessions.

The honor also reflects what Daytona State sells to recruits and four-year programs alike: winning basketball paired with classroom production. The Falcons said their athletes posted a department-record 3.42 GPA in July 2025, with 10 of 12 teams at 3.0 or higher and 33 perfect 4.0 GPAs. That academic standard has long been part of the school’s athletics identity, and Lacey’s award fits that model cleanly. Daytona State’s baseball program also led the NJCAA with a 3.70 team GPA and won its academic team honor for an 11th straight year in 2017, another marker of a program culture that has treated academic performance as part of its competitive pitch.

Lacey’s basketball résumé reached beyond Daytona State as well. The FCSAA men’s awards page also placed him on the All-FCSAA and All-Citrus Conference first team, while Chipola’s Hedrens Bartelus was named FCSAA Player of the Year and Most Outstanding Player. Daytona State teammate Noah Mendy also earned All-FCSAA recognition, giving the Falcons multiple statewide honors in a crowded men’s basketball field.

The FCSAA said finalists from all sports will be released June 30, with the overall Male and Female Scholar-Athlete awards set for July 2. For Daytona State, Lacey’s win is the kind of credential that travels well: a guard who produced on the floor, finished his degree work with honors and leaves a junior-college résumé that fits the next level.