Men’s MIAA Awards and All Conference Honors
The MIAA announced its men’s basketball postseason awards and teams. Northwest Missouri’s Trevor Hudgins was named as the player of the year with Ryan Hawkins being selected as defensive player of the year and Ben McCollum being voted coach of the year. The freshman of the year was awarded to Will Eames of Missouri Western.
Trevor Hudgins guided the Bearcats to the MIAA regular-season championship and an 18-1 record in the Association. He ranked first in the conference with 6.0 assists per game and a 3.7 assist-to-turnover ratio as he also logged the most minutes in the league at 36.3 minutes per game. Hudgins was first in three-point percentage and three-point field goals per game as he finished third in scoring with 19.6 points per game. His three triple-double also ranked third in NCAA Division II.
Ryan Hawkins was tabbed as the defensive player of the year in back-to-back seasons. He led the MIAA in steals with 2.2 per game and 65 steals. He grabbed 160 defensive rebounds which ranked sixth in the league. Hawkins propelled NW’s defense to allow just 62.7 points in conference games and opponents to shoot 33.4 percent from the three-point arc, both are top in the Association. He also finished fifth in the league with 34.2 minutes played per night.
For Ben McCollum, it is his sixth MIAA coach of the year award. He led the Bearcats to their seventh consecutive regular-season title this season after finishing with an 18-1 record in MIAA play. Northwest Missouri led the conference in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, turnover margin, assist-to-turnover ratio, scoring margin, scoring defense, and steals. They also ranked second in scoring.
Missouri Western’s Will Eames was selected as freshmen of the year. He ranked sixth in the Association with 7.3 rebounds per game and 11th in blocked shots. For the season, Eames averaged 11.1 points and shot 43.8 percent from the field. He helped the Griffons secure the fourth seed in the MIAA men’s basketball championship and improve their win total by five wins while more than doubling their conference wins from last season.
Below is the complete list of postseason awards and teams for the 2020 MIAA men’s basketball season. The MIAA Basketball Championships presented by Citizens Bank & Trust are March 4-8 at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. For more information, click here.
2020 MIAA Postseason Awards
Player of the Year – Trevor Hudgins – Northwest Missouri, Sophomore
Defensive Player of the Year – Ryan Hawkins – Northwest Missouri, Junior
Freshman of the Year – Will Eames – Missouri Western
Coach of the Year – Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri
2020 MIAA All-Defensive Team
Missouri Southern – Braelon Walker, Senior
Northeastern State – Josh Ihek, Senior
Northwest Missouri – Diego Bernard, Sophomore
Northwest Missouri – Ryan Hawkins, Junior
Rogers State – Tavian Davis, Senior
2020 All-MIAA First-Team
Cam Martin – Missouri Southern, Junior
Tyrell Carroll – Missouri Western, Sophomore
Ryan Hawkins – Northwest Missouri, Junior
Trevor Hudgins – Northwest Missouri, Sophomore
Tyler Geiman – Washburn, Junior
2020 All-MIAA Second-Team
Kinzer Lambert – Missouri Southern, Senior
Morgan Soucie – Nebraska Kearney, Senior
Caleb Smith – Northeastern State, Senior
Kendrick Thompson – Northeastern State, Senior
Marques Sumner – Rogers State, Senior
2020 All-MIAA Third-Team
Jared Vitztum – Fort Hays State, Junior
Elyjah Clark – Missouri Southern, Senior
Marshawn Blackmon – Newman, Senior
Diego Bernard – Northwest Missouri, Sophomore
Tavian Davis – Rogers State, Senior
2020 All-MIAA Honorable Mention
Central Oklahoma – Cam Givens – Sophomore
Emporia State – Brenden Van Dyke – Junior
Lincoln – Jonell Burton – Senior
Missouri Western – Will Eames – Freshman, Tyus Millhollin – Senior
Nebraska Kearney – AJ Jackson – Senior, Kyle Juhl – Senior
Northwest Missouri – Ryan Welty – Senior
Pittsburg State – AJ Walker – Senior
Rogers State – Chris Miller – Senior, Brewster Peacock – Junior
Washburn – Jonny Clausing – Sophomore