KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University junior Justin Pitts was named the MIAA Player of the Year for the second-straight season and head coach Ben McCollum earned Coach of the Year honors for the third-straight season. Senior Zach Schneider earned second team honors while Chris-Ebou Ndow garnered third team accolades and was also named to the All-Defensive team. Seniors Anthony Woods and D’Vante Mosby were named honorable mention performers.
Pitts becomes the first player in Northwest history to ever be named MIAA Player of the Year twice. He is also the first player to earn three-straight first team All-MIAA nods since 1937. This year, Pitts is averaging 19.3 points and 5.3 assists per game. He has scored in double figures 25 times and surpassed 20 or more points 14 times. He now ranks fifth in Northwest history with 1,686 points and if fourth all time in made field goals with 613 and in made three point field goals with 191.
2016-17 marks the third-straight season McCollum has garnered the league’s Coach of the Year honor and the fourth in his career at Northwest, winning back in 2012. He has led the Bearcats to six-straight 20+ win seasons, one of just seven schools in Division II to accomplish that feat. The 26 wins this season is the second most in his tenure, only one behind the 27 games the team won last season.
Schneider is now the Northwest and MIAA career leader in three-point field goals made with 348. This season, he has started all 27 games and is averaging 10.3 points per game. He has hit 86-of-175 (49.1 percent) of his long range attempts this year and is averaging 34.6 minutes per game. In 27 games, he has hit at least one three pointer in 25 contests and has at least two on 21 occasions.
Ndow becomes the first Bearcat to be named to the All-Defensive team since Matt Wallace following the 2014-15 season. In 24 games, Ndow has averaged 13.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest. This year, he has tallied 21 steals and nine blocked shots on the defensive end. Offensively, Ndow is shooting an even 50 percent from the field (111-222) and has hit a career-high 39 three pointers.
Woods is averaging a career-best 8.2 points per game during his senior year. Appearing in 24 games, Woods has racked up a career-best 72 assists with 72 rebounds, 14 steals and two blocked shots. He is shooting 54.7 percent from the field (76-139) and has hit 6-of-11 three pointers. Woods has reached double figures nine times on the year.
Mosby has appeared in all 27 games this season and is averaging 8.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. This year, he has hit 54.9 percent of his field goal attempts (84-153), scoring in double figures 11 times. Mosby has dished off 29 assists, tallied 25 steals and blocked 10 shots. Earlier this year, he surpassed 1,000 points and 700 rebounds for his career.
Player of the Year: Justin Pitts, G, Jr., NW
Defensive Player of the Year: Brady Skeens, F, Jr., WU
Freshman of the Year: Elyjah Clark, F, Fr., MSSU
Coach of the Year: Ben McCollum, NW
All-MIAA First Team
Justin Pitts, G, So., NW**[r3]
Rob Davis, G, Jr., FHSU[r2]
Anthony Virdure, G, Sr., LU
Brandy Skeens, F, Jr., WU Trey Lansman, C, Jr., UNK
**Unanimous Selection
[r2] Two time repeat First Team Selection
[r3] Three time repeat First Team Selection
All-MIAA Second Team
Spencer Reaves, G, Jr., UCM
CJ Carr, G, Jr., MSSU
Zach Schneider, F, Sr., NW
Chandler Diekvoss, F, So., LWU
Corbin Byford, F, Sr., UCO
All-MIAA Third Team
Jaylon Smith, G, Sr., LU
Chris-Ebou Ndow, G, Jr., NW
Brandon Hall, G, So., ESU
Kyle Wolfe, F, Sr., UCM
Logan Hovey, F, Jr., SBU
All-Defensive Team
Brady Skeens, F, Jr., WU
Marquiez Lawrence, F, Sr., UCM
JaQuan Smith, F, Sr, FHSU
Bakari Triggs, G, Jr., LWU
Chris-Ebou Ndow, G, Jr., NW
Honorable Mention All-MIAA
Marquiez Lawrence, UCM; Jake Hammond, UCO; Josh Holiday, UCO; Josh Pederson, ESU; JaQuan Smith, FHSU; Hadley Gillium, FHSU; Jackson Price, LWU; Elyjah Clark, MSSU; JJ Cratit, MSSU; Lawrence Brown, MSSU; Cole Clearman, MWSU; Yashua Trent, UNK; Isaiah MaKay, UNK; Ty Daneilson, UNK; Montre Williams, NSU; Anthony Woods, NW; D’Vante Mosby, NW; Javion Blake, WU; Brian Patterson, SBU
— Northwest Athletics —