WHITEFISH, Mont. – The Frontier Conference announced Tuesday morning that University of Providence men's basketball senior Zaccheus Darko-Kelly was unanimously selected as the preseason Conference Player of the Year.

Junior Jaxen Hashley was also recognized by the conference as a member of the preseason All-Conference team.

"It's quite an honor for both of them," head coach Steve Keller said. "They both have worked really hard to get to this level and are deserving to get this recognition. It's exciting for me because there's no reason to doubt that they both won't be better this year. We're excited to get them on the floor."

Zaccheus Darko-Kelly is coming off one of the most heralded seasons in Argo history. In his junior season, he 22.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, and 5.7 apg while shooting 52% from the floor and 43% from beyond the arc. He was named the Frontier Conference Player of the Week six times, Frontier Conference Player of the Year, and was the first men's basketball player in NAIA history to win the NAIA Player of the Week Award three times. He was also named a finalist for Bevo Francis Award and an NAIA 1^st Team All-American.

Hashley was dominant down low in his sophomore season, averaging 13.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg and led the team with 1.5 steals per game. He shot 64% from the field and 37% from behind the arc.  He was named an NAIA Honorable Mention All-American last season.

"I'm proud of both of them," Keller said. "Now they need to amp up their workouts and prove to everybody that this is where they belong."

Sindou Diallo (Montana Tech), Taylor England (Montana Tech), Mascio McCadney (MSU-Northern) and Jovan Sljivancanin (Carroll) round out the preseason All-Conference team.

The news comes a day after the Frontier Conference announced that the Argo squad were their favorites in the conference preseason poll, slightly edging out Carroll College.

"It's good to have expectations," Keller said. "It increases our motivation to perform at the level we know we can."