KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced its postseason awards and All-MIAA teams for the 2023-24 men’s basketball season.
 
Northwest Missouri claimed two of the league’s highest honors as Wes Dreamer was named the MIAA Player of the Year and Ben McCollum was voted the MIAA Coach of the Year.
 
Dreamer, a 6-7 senior forward from Alvo, Neb., led the MIAA regular-season champions in scoring, rebounds and blocks. His 18.6 points per game ranked second in the league and his 6.8 boards per game wanted fifth. One of the league’s top shooters this season, Dreamer owns a 51.7 field goal percentage (152-of-294), shot 40.5 percent (53-of-131) from the three and hit 78.3 percent (108-of-138) at the free-throw line. His 53 threes this season ties for the seventh-most in the MIAA.
 
Dreamer and the Bearcats are led by 14-year Head Coach Ben McCollum. McCollum led Northwest Missouri to an MIAA record of 20-2, clinching the program’s 11th consecutive regular season title and the top seed in the 2024 MIAA Tournament.
 
Northwest was the league’s best shooting team this season, leading the MIAA in team shooting percentage (51.2 percent), three-point shooting (40.2 percent), and from the line (78.3 percent). The Bearcat defense also ranked second in the MIAA and in NCAA Division II in scoring defense, allowing opponents to average 60.0 points per game.
 
This is McCollum’s sixth consecutive MIAA Coach of the Year honor and ninth overall.
 
Fort Hay’s State’s Bjarni Jonsson was named the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year. A 6-7 senior forward from Borgarnes, Iceland, Jonsson and the Tigers are the best defensive team in Division II allowing an average of 57.4 points per game. Jonsson started all 28 of FHSU’s games this season averaging 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. His team-leading 43 steals tied for the third-most in the league.
 
Pittsburg State’s Jordan Frison was named the MIAA Freshman of the Year. Frison is a 5-11 first-year guard from Memphis, Tenn. Starting 27 games, Frison led the Gorillas in minutes played (969) and ranked in the league’s top five with 35.9 minutes per game. He also ranked in the league’s top five in assists, averaging 5.2 per game. Frison also averaged 12.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game for Pitt State this season. 
 
Below is a list of the 33 MIAA men’s basketball players who earned All-MIAA honors for the 2023-24 regular season. The awards are voted on by head coaches, who cannot vote for their own players.
 
The top ten teams from the 2023-24 season will travel to Kansas City for the 2024 MIAA Basketball Championship, presented by Southern Bank. The men’s tournament tips off at 6:15 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6 in Kansas City’s historic Municipal Auditorium. To view the tournament schedule or purchase tickets, visit TheMIAA.com/MIAAmadness.
 
  MIAA POSTSEASON AWARDS  
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Wes Dreamer, Northwest Missouri
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Bjarni Jonsson, Fort Hays State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Jordan Frison, Pittsburg State
COACH OF THE YEAR: Ben McCollum, Northwest Missouri 
 
 MIAA ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM 
RJ Forney – Pittsburg State, Jr. 
Jordan Hayes – Central Missouri, Sr.
Isaiah Jackson – Northwest Missouri, Jr.
Bjarni Jonsson – Fort Hays State, Sr.  
Darius Yohe – Emporia State, Sr. 
 
 ALL-MIAA FIRST TEAM 
Alijah Comithier – Emporia State, Sr. 
Wes Dreamer – Northwest Missouri, Sr.
Deshaun English II – Pittsburg State, Sr. 
Kaleb Hammeke – Fort Hays State, Jr.
Jaden Wells – Central Oklahoma, Jr.
 
 ALL-MIAA SECOND TEAM 
Darius Dawson – Missouri Southern, Jr. 
Owen Long – Emporia State, Sr. 
Elijah Nnanabu – Fort Hays State, Sr. 
Andrew Orr – Washburn, Jr. 
Bennett Stirtz – Northwest Missouri, So. 
 
 ALL-MIAA THIRD TEAM 
Rodney Battle – Rogers State, Sr. 
Taye Fields – Missouri Western, Jr. 
Donald Richardson – Lincoln, Sr. 
Jeramy Shaw – Pittsburg State, Sr. 
JaRon Thames – Missouri Western, Sr. 
 
 ALL-MIAA HONORABLE MENTION 
Anthony Allen – Northeastern State, So. 
Atavian Butler – Emporia State, Sr. 
Danquez Dawsey – Central Oklahoma, Jr. 
Jordan Frison – Pittsburg State, Fr. 
Kofi Hamilton – Rogers State, Jr. 
Isaiah Jackson – Northwest Missouri, Jr.
Isaac Johnson – Rogers State, Sr.  
Bjarni Jonsson – Fort Hays State, Sr. 
Tim Jordan Jr. – Central Missouri, Fr. 
Martin Macenis – Missouri Southern, Sr. 
Mitch Mascari – Northwest Missouri, Jr. 
Vinson Sigmon Jr. – Missouri Southern, Sr. 
Stevie Strong – Newman, Jr.
Sam Ungashick – Washburn, So.