KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 3, 2021) - The MIAA announced its 2021 men’s basketball postseason awards and teams. Northwest Missouri's Trevor Hudgins was named the MIAA Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Teammate Diego Bernard was honored as the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Bearcat head coach Ben McCollum picked up his seventh MIAA Coach of the Year award after leading the team to a 21-1 overall record while capturing the program's eighth-stright regular season title. Fort Hays State's Kaleb Hammeke was named the conference's Freshman of the Year.
The upper-classman heavy All-MIAA First Team includes Hudgins and teammate Ryan Hawkins. Washburn's Tyler Geiman and Missouri Southern's Cam Martin were also named to the first team. Rouding out the five-member squad is Fort Hays State's Jared Vitztum.
Bernard headlines a stout MIAA All-Defensive Team. Missouri Western's Tyrell Carroll and Washburn's Geiman were joined by Lincoln's Cam Pott and last year's Defensive Player of the Year Hawkins from Northwest.
Hudgins averaged 19.2 points per game for the Bearcats and led the conference with a .528 three-point shooting percentage. He averaged a league-high 37.4 minutes per game and ranked third in the MIAA in assists per game (5.0) and in assist-to-turnover ratio (+2.5). Hudgins also was fourth in free throw percentage (88.0) and was eighth in field goal percentage (53.9).
Bernard completed his junior season with 29 total steals and 13 blocked shots, ranking 13th and 14th in the conference, respectively. He was also one of the top minutes-per-game selections, ranking 14th at 32.2 per contest.
In his first season at FHSU, Hammeke started all 22 games for the Tigers, averaging 10.7 points per game. He led the team and ranked sixth in the conference at 4.6 assists per game and led the team with 21 total steals.
McCollum has now won 293 games at Northwest Missouri, including 183 MIAA contests in 12 seasons. In addition the program's nine MIAA regular season titles, the Bearcats have won five MIAA Tournament Titles and two NCAA Division II National Championships.
Below is the complete list of postseason awards and teams for the 2021 MIAA men’s basketball season. The MIAA Basketball Championships, presented by Citizens Bank & Trust, will begin on Wednesday, March 3, with quarterfinal contests taking place on host campus sites. For more information, click here.
2021 MIAA Postseason Awards
Player of the Year – Trevor Hudgins – Northwest Missouri, Junior
Defensive Player of the Year – Diego Bernard – Northwest Missouri, Junior
Freshman of the Year – Kaleb Hammeke – Fort Hays State
Coach of the Year – Ben McCollum – Northwest Missouri
2021 MIAA All-Defensive Team
Diego Bernard – Northwest Missouri, Junior
Tyrell Carroll – Missouri Western, Junior
Tyler Geiman – Washburn, Senior
Ryan Hawkins – Northwest Missouri, Senior
Cam Potts – Lincoln, Senior
2021 All-MIAA First-Team
Tyler Geiman – Washburn, Senior*
Ryan Hawkins – Northwest Missouri, Senior*
Trevor Hudgins – Northwest Missouri, Junior*
Cam Martin – Missouri Southern, Senior*
Jared Vitztum – Fort Hays State, Senior
*Unanimous Selection
2021 All-MIAA Second-Team
Diego Bernard – Northwest Missouri, Junior
Tyrell Carroll – Missouri Western, Junior
Jumah’Ri Turner – Emporia State, Senior
Isaiah Wade – Central Oklahoma, Senior
Sevon Witt – Lincoln, Sophomore
2021 All-MIAA Third-Team
Bobby Arthur-Williams – Pittsburg State, Graduate
Quinton Drayton – Lincoln, Junior
Callen Haydon – Central Oklahoma, Junior
Devin Pullum – Rogers State, Senior
Stan Scott – Missouri Southern, Senior
2021 All-MIAA Honorable Mention
Central Missouri – Cameron Hunter – Senior
Central Oklahoma – Cam Givens – Junior
Emporia State – Austin Downing – Senior
Fort Hays State – Kaleb Hammeke – Freshman
Lincoln – Cam Potts – Senior
Missouri Western – Caleb Bennett – Junior, Will Eames – Sophomore, Reese Glover - Sophomore
Nebraska Kearney – Austin Luger – Senior, Jake Walker – Senior
Newman – Joel Boyce – Junior
Northeastern State – Trey Sampson – Junior
Northwest Missouri – Luke Waters – Sophomore
Pittsburg State – Quentin Hardrict, Jr. – Junior
Rogers State – Darraja Parnell – Senior, Brewster Peacock – Senior
Washburn – Jonny Clausing – Junior, Jalen Lewis – Junior