Northwest Missouri State University senior Joey Witthus has earned NCAA Division II Central Region First-Team honors from the Conference Commissioners Association.
Redshirt freshman Trevor Hudgins also earned second-team all-region status.
The award is voted upon by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) from the region. The Central Region consists of 42 men’s basketball teams from the Northern Sun (16 teams), Mid-America (14 teams) and Great American (12 teams) conferences.
Witthus is averaging a team-best 21.7 points per game and shooting 51.2 percent from the field. Witthus has buried an-MIAA high 107 three-pointers (one away from the Northwest single-season record of 108 set by Zach Schneider in 2016-17), and he is shooting 45.7 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Witthus leads Northwest in free throws made (150) and his shooting 84.7 percent from the free throw line. The senior from Chanhassen, Minnesota scored a career-high 39 points in Northwest’s 91-62 NCAA first-round win over Minnesota State. Witthus has been named the MIAA Player of the Year and the Most Outstanding Player at the 2019 MIAA Tournament.
Hudgins, the MIAA freshman of the year, is scoring 18.6 points per game and handing out 5.4 assists per game. Hudgins is shooting 53.9 percent from the field, including 48.1 percent from three-point range. Hudgins is making 82.8 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 17 times this season. He has set the Northwest and MIAA freshman scoring record with 631 points.
NCAA Division II Central Region FIRST TEAM
Joey Witthus, Northwest Missouri State
Gage Davis, St. Cloud State
Kevin Buckingham, Southeastern Oklahoma State
Ryan Bruggeman, Southwest Minnesota State
Cam Martin, Missouri Southern State
NCAA Division II Central Region SECOND TEAM
Harrison Cleary, Minnesota Crookston
Trevor Hudgins, Northwest Missouri State
Trevon Evans, Sioux Falls
Jhonathan Dunn, Southern Nazarene
Javion Blake, Washburn
— Northwest Athletics —