ONU’s Gross Repeats As POTY; 39 MBKB Award Winners Announced
CHICAGO — Having already hoisted the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champion plaques, Olivet Nazarene University came away toting a league-high six more awards on Tuesday morning when the CCAC office announced its men’s basketball postseason honors for 2021-22. The Tigers also repeated on two of the top individual honors when Alex Gross (Hope, Ind.) was named the CCAC Player of the Year and Nick Birkey was chosen as the league’s Coach of the Year.
Gross became the fourth straight ONU player to garner the top individual award in the sport, following his predecessor Nic Reed in repeating as the player of the year. A seven-time CCAC Player of the Week selection, the senior center also dominated nationally in claiming an unprecedented three NAIA Player of the Week awards.
Heading into next week’s NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, Gross leads the nation in rebounding with his 14.5 average being 2.4 boards better per game than his next closest challenger. He also ranks second in the NAIA in blocks per game (3.4), fifth in scoring (23.5 ppg) and eighth in assists (5.6).
On the conference level, Gross topped the league’s charts in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and both field goals (298) and free throws made (154). He was also second in assists, third in field goal percentage (.618) and fourth in free throw percentage (.828).
Gross was the only player to repeat on the five-member all-conference first team, as well, where he was a three-peat selection. The rest of the first team was made up of Gross’ teammate Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind.), Indiana University South Bend’s Dylan Allen (Indianapolis, Ind.), Saint Xavier University’s Joshua Evans (Dolton, Ill.), and Indiana University Northwest’s Jared Johnson (Chicago Heights, Ill.).
Birkey, meanwhile, was recognized for leading the Tigers to their fourth consecutive regular-season league crown. ONU was near-perfect both overall and in conference play on the season, boasting current records of 30-3 overall and 21-1 in CCAC play. The NAIA No. 11-ranked Tigers take a school-record 18-game winning streak into the national tournament.
Three other top individual honors went to Indiana South Bend’s Sergio Diaz (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Judson University’s Lorenzo Anderson (Atlanta, Ga.), and Roosevelt University’s Trenton Kyler (DeKalb, Ill.).
Diaz was named the first-ever CCAC Defensive Player of the Year after the senior guard totaled 33 steals and 20 blocks to go along with scoring and rebounding averages of 9.3 and 4.7, respectively.
Anderson gained the league’s Newcomer of the Year award after placing second in the conference in scoring (23.3 ppg), third in both field goals made (257) and steals (65) and sixth in free throws made (99). The junior guard also averaged 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
Rounding out the list of individual award recipients was Kyler, who was recognized as the CCAC Freshman of the Year. The guard finished among the top 20 scorers in the league with his 13.7 points-per-game average. He also registered 45 assists, 44 steals and an average of 3.4 rebounds over his 22 games played.
A total of 39 awards were presented on Tuesday morning, including the newly-established CCAC All-Freshman Team, which was made up of seven players. Besides the five-member all-conference first team, ten individuals were named to the all-conference second team with another 11 players being recognized as honorable mention choices.
After Olivet Nazarene’s six awards, second-place regular-season finisher Indiana South Bend gained the most honors with five. Holy Cross College and Roosevelt were next with four each, including the league’s Champions of Character Team Award for Holy Cross.
Saint Xavier, Judson, and Trinity International all had three individuals honored, while Indiana Northwest, St. Ambrose University, Lincoln College and Trinity Christian College had two awardees each. Also represented with one honoree each were individuals from Governors State University, University of St. Francis and Cardinal Stritch University.
2021-22 MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS
Player of the Year-Alex Gross – Olivet Nazarene
Defensive Player of the Year Sergio Diaz – Indiana South Bend
Newcomer of the Year Lorenzo Anderson – Judson
Freshman of the Year Trenton Kyler – Roosevelt
Coach of the Year Nick Birkey – Olivet Nazarene
Champions of Character Team Holy Cross College
All-Freshman Team
G Nash Hostetler Holy Cross Dublin, Ohio
G Trenton Kyler Roosevelt DeKalb, Ill.
F Grant Mason St. Ambrose Chicago, Ill.
F Deon McLaughlin Trinity Christian Brooklyn, NY
G Justin O’Neal Holy Cross Dayton, Ohio
G Caleb Swearingen Olivet Nazarene Brazil, Ind.
G Kyonte Thomas Trinity International Bolingbrook, Ill.
First Team All-Conference
G Dylan Allen Sr. Indiana South Bend Indianapolis, Ind.
G Joshua Evans Sr. Saint Xavier Dolton, Ill.
C Alex Gross Sr. Olivet Nazarene Hope, Ind.
F Jared Johnson Jr. Indiana Northwest Chicago Heights, Ill.
G Tyler Schmidt So. Olivet Nazarene Valparaiso, Ind.
Second Team All-Conference
G Lorenzo Anderson Jr. Judson Atlanta, Ga.
C Thomas Donati Sr. Judson Rousset, France
F Jack Halverson Sr. Saint Xavier Peotone, Ill.
F/C Tom Kazanecki Sr. St. Ambrose Palos Heights, Ill.
G Darnell Latham Jr. Sr. Lincoln Chicago, Ill.
G Brandon McQueen Sr. Trinity International Cleveland, Ohio
G Donyell Meredith Sr. Indiana South Bend Indianapolis, Ind.
G James Pennington Sr. Trinity Christian Calumet City, Ill.
F DeAndrey Robinson Sr. Governors State Peoria, Ill.
F Miles Tracy Sr. Indiana South Bend Indianapolis, Ind.
Honorable Mention All-Conference
F Dejon Barney Jr. Lincoln South Bend, Ind.
G Ryan Black Sr. Holy Cross Ocean Springs, Miss.
G Sergio Diaz Sr. Indiana South Bend Grand Rapids, Mich.
G Sterling Brown Sr. Trinity International Carmel, Ind.
G Maurice Chambers Sr. Saint Xavier Harvey, Ill.
F EJ Charles Jr. St. Francis (Ill.) Mokena, Ill.
G Trenton Kyler Fr. Roosevelt DeKalb, Ill.
G/F Matt Myers Sr. Roosevelt Addison, Ill.
G Landon Pflederer So. Olivet Nazarene Tremont, Ill.
G Nakyel Shelton So. Cardinal Stritch Chicago, Ill.
G Marshaud Watkins Sr. Indiana Northwest Oak Forest, Ill
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