I’m not here to alarm you, but the Summit League regular season has passed the halfway point. However, don’t worry there is good news. There is still plenty of basketball to be played and plenty of storylines to play out and of course, that includes the great sparkplug of conversation: the League’s individual awards.
To celebrate the beginning of the downhill stretch to Sioux Falls, here is how I, one solitary writer, see the awards shaping up at present.
Player of the Year
The Pick: Max Abmas
In the Conversation: Trenton Massner
It feels like I’m doing something wrong, something untoward, by even putting anything in this space other than two words: “Max Abmas.” This award seems as locked down as it can get, with one of the League’s most iconic players in its history having a great season individually while driving his team toward a probable regular season title.
Midcourt Max has continued to evolve. He’s actually taking a lower percentage of the Golden Eagles’ shots than he did over the past two years, and is posting the best effective field goal percentage (62.1%) and assist rate (19.4%) of his storied career in league play. Add in the gilt-edged moments – like his game winner against Kansas City – and you’ve got an airtight case for POY.
Ah, but there has to be a “but.” Trenton Massner’s season demands that he at least be mentioned as a candidate, and he is the only player in the country averaging at least 18 points, five assists and five rebounds per game. It’s a longshot, but he’s putting together a season more than worthy of the award in most years. I’d also be remiss not to highlight Zeke Mayo and Grant Nelson in this area code.
Coach of the Year
The Pick: Paul Mills
In the Conversation: Rob Jeter, Marvin Menzies, Eric Henderson, Dave Richman
List half the conference, will you?
Mills has orchestrated the Golden Eagles’ tremendous season with plenty of continuity, but also by adding in impact transfers Connor Vanover and Patrick Mwamba, who have helped drive a huge defensive improvement (more on that below). ORU is ranked 126th in the country in defensive efficiency per KenPom, a massive jump from where it finished a year ago (290th). Abmas or not, it’s hard not to see Mills taking home the hardware.
That said, Jeter has built virtually an entirely new team around Massner that is on track to finish better than it did a year ago in the league standings. Henderson has withstood plenty of injuries to keep the Jackrabbits competitive, while Richman and Menzies have guided teams packed with youth to heart of the race for the number two seed in Sioux Falls.
Defensive Player of the Year
The Pick: Connor Vanover
In the Conversation: Shemarri Allen, Patrick Mwamba, Jesiah West
This one should get spicy as there are plenty of attractive paths to go down. Vanover would currently get my vote, in part because he’s doing things from a shot blocking standpoint that only one other person – WIU great Brandon Gilbeck – has done in recent history. His 3.3 blocks per game is just an absurd number, and only Gilbeck has come close to approaching his block rate (11.2%) in the league over the past 15 seasons.
It hasn’t been a one man show, but ORU’s season has been built as much on a vastly improved defense as it has their trademark offense. Vanover is a massive part of that, as is Mwamba, who certainly should be in the running for the award. Joining him in that category should be Jesiah West and Shemarri Allen, the latter of whom has maintained his defensive edge despite a much more involved role offensively.
Newcomer of the Year
The Pick: Connor Vanover
In the Conversation: RayQuawndis Mitchell, Alec Rosner, Tyree Corbett
It’s hard to look past Vanover, 7’5 or not. We discussed the defensive oomph above, but his all-around impact has been huge for the Golden Eagles (13.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg). The center has been able to show off the outside shooting aspect of his game that was largely shelved during his time at Arkansas, and has been the most consistently dominant big man in the league. That may have been the easy narrative with his pedigree, but was never a given.
There are other worthy cases throughout the league, starting with the Summit’s third-leading scorer in Mitchell (18.3 ppg), who can make the Roos as tough to beat as anyone when he gets hot from the outside. Rosner (14.3 ppg, 39.0% 3FG) has been the latest Division II transfer success story and filled a scoring void alongside Massner. Corbett is nearly averaging a double double, and has added the athletic presence in the paint that Jeff Wulbrun was looking for in the offseason.
Sixth Man of the Year
The Pick: Patrick Mwamba
In the Conversation: Matt Norman, Paul Bruns
That’s right, yet another Golden Eagle, but I guess you don’t get to 11-0 without multiple players having banner seasons. Mwamba has excelled in his role as ORU’s punch of front court athleticism off the bench (7.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg), and has provided the type of physicality that could be especially important down the line depending on what matchups present themselves in Sioux Falls.
Fighting Hawks’ junior Matt Norman had a brief time as a starter this season, but has been a firecracker off the bench, scoring in double figures in his last seven games (including 25 points last weekend against North Dakota State). It hasn’t been the season that South Dakota likely expected to this point, but Bruns has continued to be an effective scorer (9.9 ppg) even if he’s not in the headlining role he was at UND last season. Special mention should also go to Omaha’s Luke Jungers, who’s been capable of pouring in points off the bench.
Freshman of the Year
The Pick: Andrew Rohde
In the Conversation: B.J. Omot
At long last, a player that doesn’t call Tulsa home. The Tommies’ catalyst has been the gem of the Summit’s collective freshmen class this season, slotting immediately into John Tauer’s potent attack (15.4 ppg, 3.7 apg). It’s hard to believe that St. Thomas replaced Anders Nelson with a freshman and got better, but by many measures that seems to be just what has happened.
Omot has been a bright spot in a tough season thus far in Grand Forks. He’s not just the Fighting Hawks leading scorer (11.2 ppg) and second-highest scoring freshman in the league, but he’s also rarely turned the ball over despite being on the court nearly 30 minutes a game. He would also be the third straight Fighting Hawk to take home this honor.
Omot and fellow freshman Treysen Eaglestaff have provided reason for optimism for the three-point heavy Fighting Hawks. SDSU’s William Kyle and DU’s Justin Mullins also deserve mention as important parts of their respective teams.
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