BOILING SPRINGS – Gardner-Webb men's basketball signee Jordan Sears capped a sensational career at Daytona Beach's Mainland High by earning the Daytona News-Journal's Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

Sears, who signed his NLI with Gardner-Webb in November, is the first Mainland High standout to earn the honor in consecutive seasons in 25 years. The last to do it was future Naismith Hall of Famer Vince Carter in 1994 and 1995.

Sears (5-11, 175) was a near unanimous choice by the newspaper after averaging 20.2 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game. He pilfered 2.8 steals per game on the defensive end of the court and is known as a ferocious on-ball defender.

He also repeated as an All-Area selection for the third season in a row and is expected to be a repeat choice on the All-State team for 2019-2020.

Sears scored a season-high 30 points vs. Osceola (Fla.) High and had 29 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists vs. Naples (Fla.) High. He narrowly missed a triple-double again vs. New Smyrna Beach (Fla.) High, posting 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Sears scored 1,109 points in his two seasons at Mainland (Fla.) High and finished his varsity career with 1,454 including a sophomore season at nearby Atlantic (Fla.) High.

He and November signee Jermaine Mann will join a veteran cast for head coach Tim Craft in 2020-2021.