The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team had all five starters earn all-Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association honors. The Bearcats also swept all four of the specialty awards – Joey Witthus (Player of the Year), Trevor Hudgins (Freshman of the Year), Ryan Hawkins (Defensive Player of the Year) and Ben McCollum (Coach of the Year) as announced by the league office today.
Senior Joey Witthus and redshirt freshman Trevor Hudgins were named to the all-MIAA first team, while sophomore Ryan Hawkins earned all-MIAA second-team honors. Freshman Diego Bernard and junior Ryan Welty notched honorable mention status. In addition, Hawkins and Bernard were selected as members of the MIAA All-Defensive squad.
Witthus (Chanhassen, Minnesota) becomes the seventh different Bearcat to be named the MIAA Player of the Year. Witthus is averaging a team-best 20.5 points per game and shooting 50.8 percent from the field. Witthus has buried an-MIAA high 90 three-pointers, and he is shooting 45.5 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Witthus also leads Northwest in free throws made (108) and his shooting 85.7 percent from the free throw line. In MIAA games, Witthus is scoring at a 21.7 per game clip. Witthus has scored 30 or more points five times this season, including four times in MIAA play.
Northwest’s MIAA Player of the Year Award Winners
1971 – Carl Jenkins
1998 – Shakey Harrington
2004 – Kelvin Parker
2007 – Hunter Henry
2014 – DeShaun Cooper
2016 – Justin Pitts
2017 – Justin Pitts
2018 – Justin Pitts
2019 – Joey Witthus
Hudgins (Manhattan, Kansas) is the sixth Bearcat to earn the MIAA Freshman of the Year award. Hudgins is scoring 18.4 points per game and handing out 5.2 assists per game, which ranks him at No. 3 in the nation among freshmen in each category. Hudgins is shooting 53.9 percent from the field, including 47.3 percent from three-point range. Hudgins is making 82.7 percent of his free throws and tied the all-time MIAA record for consecutive free throws made at 36. Hudgins has scored 20 or more points 15 times this season. He has set the Northwest freshman scoring record with 534 points.
Northwest’s MIAA Freshman of the Year Award Winners
1996 – Matt Redd
2007 – Lance Sullivan
2010 – DeShaun Cooper
2014 – Zach Schneider
2015 – Justin Pitts
2019 – Trevor Hudgins
Hawkins (Atlantic, Iowa) becomes the second Bearcat to earn the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year honor. Hawkins leads the MIAA in steals (67) and he ranks third in the league in rebounds (9.1 rpg). Hawkins has recorded at least two steals in 21 of 29 games. He has tallied a team-best 22 blocked shots. Hawkins is one of two MIAA players (Lincoln’s Jonell Burton) with at least 20 steals, 20 blocks, 20 assists and 20 three-pointers made.
Northwest’s MIAA Defensive Player of the Year Award Winners
2015 – Matt Wallace
2019 – Ryan Hawkins
Bernard (St. Joseph, Missouri) earned honorable mention all-MIAA status and a spot on the MIAA All-Defensive squad. Bernard is averaging 11.8 points per game and is shooting 49.0 percent from the field. Bernard has scored in double figures in 23 of 29 games this season. In MIAA play, Bernard is averaging 5.1 rebounds per game, which ranks second on the Bearcat squad.
Northwest’s MIAA All-Defensive Team Members
2003 – Kelvin Parker
2004 – Kelvin Parker
2006 – Mose Howard
2007 – John Hawkins
2008 – Mat Withers
2009 – Hunter Henry
2012 – Jake Reinders
2013 – Matt Wallace
2014 – Bryston Williams
2015 – Matt Wallace
2017 – Chris-Ebou Ndow
2018 – Brett Dougherty
2019 – Ryan Hawkins, Diego Bernard
Welty (Parkville, Missouri) also captured honorable mention all-MIAA honors. Welty is averaging 8.5 points per game. Welty has made 62 three-pointers and is shooting 50.4 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Welty is shooting 53.1 percent overall from the field.
McCollum secured his fifth MIAA Coach of the Year Award after having guided Northwest to the first 19-0 MIAA season in the history of the league. McCollum helped lead the Bearcats to their sixth straight MIAA regular season crown – becoming the first program in the history of the MIAA to win six in a row. McCollum has Northwest off to its best start to a season since the Bearcats posted a 31-0 mark under Hank Iba in the 1929-30 season. McCollum and the Bearcats have won all 29 games this season by a scoring margin of +22.4, which would best the MIAA’s all-time mark of +22.3 set by Missouri State in the 1959-60 season.
Northwest’s MIAA Coach of the Year Award Winners
1989 – Steve Tappmeyer
1998 – Steve Tappmeyer
2001 – Steve Tappmeyer
2007 – Steve Tappmeyer
2012 – Ben McCollum
2015 – Ben McCollum (co-title)
2016 – Ben McCollum
2017 – Ben McCollum
2019 – Ben McCollum
The Bearcats will take to the floor again at noon Thursday in Kansas City in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Tournament. Northwest will play the winner of Wednesday’s first round game between No. 8-seeded Emporia State and No. 9-seeded Northeastern State.
2019 Men’s Basketball All-MIAA Teams
First-Team
Brady Werth – Fort Hays State, Senior
Cam Martin – Missouri Southern, Sophomore
Trevor Hudgins – Northwest Missouri – Freshman
Joey Witthus – Northwest Missouri – Senior
Javion Blake – Washburn – Senior
Second-Team
Adarius Avery – Central Oklahoma, Senior
Terrance Smith – Lincoln, Senior
Brad Newman – Lindenwood, Senior
Lavon Hightower – Missouri Western, Senior
Ryan Hawkins – Northwest Missouri, Sophomore
Third-Team
Elyjah Clark – Missouri Southern, Junior
Caleb Smith – Northeastern State, Junior
Donovan Franklin – Pittsburg State, Senior
Grant Lozoya – Pittsburg State, Senior
Karim Mouliom – Southwest Baptist, Senior
All-Defensive Team
Diego Bernard – Northwest Missouri, Freshman
Ryan Hawkins – Northwest Missouri, Sophomore
Jonell Burton – Lincoln, Junior
Karim Mouliom – Southwest Baptist, Senior
David Salach – Washburn, Senior
Honorable Mentions
Central Missouri: Daniel Farris – Sophomore, Jafar Kinsey – Senior, Jacob Lowrance – Senior
Emporia State: Kooper Glick – Senior, Julius Jackson – Senior
Fort Hays State: Marcus Cooper – Senior, Kyler Kinnamon – Senior
Lincoln: Jonell Burton – Junior, Amariontez Ivory – Senior, Grant Olsson – Senior
Lindenwood: Chandler Diekvoss – Senior, TJ Crockett – Sophomore
Missouri Southern: Kinzer Lambert – Junior, Braelon Walker – Junior
Missouri Western: Tyrell Carroll – Freshman, Bryan Hudson – Senior
Nebraska Kearney: AJ Jackson – Junior, Kanon Koster – Freshman
Northeastern State: Josh Ihek – Junior
Northwest Missouri: Diego Bernard – Freshman, Ryan Welty – Junior
Washburn: Tyler Geiman – Sophomore, David Salach – Senior
— Northwest Athletics —