KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University junior Justin Pitts and head men’s basketball coach Ben McCollum were honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) on Monday on the All-Central district team. Pitts was named to the all-district team for the second straight season and McCollum earned his first All-Central District Coach of the Year honor.

Pitts, the 2016-17 MIAA Player of the Year, is averaging 20.5 points per game for the Bearcats. He has started all 33 games and has scored in double figures 31 times. He has scored 1,850 points in his career, setting the Northwest career record earlier this season.

McCollum has helped lead Northwest to a single season record 32 victories in 2016-17. He was named the MIAA Coach of the Year for fourth time in his career and the third straight season. He has led the Bearcats to the NCAA Sweet 16 each of the past four seasons. The year, the team reached the Elite Eight for the first time in McCollum’s eight seasons and just the third time in program history.

All-Central Region First Team
Gage Davis, St. Cloud State
Rob Davis, Fort Hays State
Aaron Lien, Minnesota State Moorhead
Justin Pitts, Northwest Missouri State
Braxton Reeves, East Central
Jordan Spencer, Augustana

Second Team
Ryan Bruggeman, Southwest Minnesota State
CJ Carr, Missouri Southern
Derylton Hill, Arkansas-Monticello
Tanner Kretchman, MSU Moorhead
Tyler Rudolph, Minot State

Coach of the Year: Ben McCollum, NW Missouri State

— Northwest Athletics —