The Northwest Missouri State University men’s basketball team captured three of the four specialty awards from the All-Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association and had four players earn all-league honors as announced by the MIAA office today.
Trevor Hudgins (Player of the Year, First Team All-MIAA), Ryan Hawkins (Defensive Player of the Year, All-Defensive Team, First Team All-MIAA) and Ben McCollum (Coach of the Year) claimed the MIAA’s specialty awards, while Diego Bernard (Third Team All-MIAA, All-Defensive Team) and Ryan Welty (Honorable Mention) also garnered accolades.
For the fifth straight season the MIAA Player of the Year resides in Maryville. Sophomore guard Trevor Hudgins (Manhattan, Kansas) took home the league’s top honor after averaging 19.6 points per game and shooting 51.8 percent from the field. Hudgins is a four-time MIAA men’s basketball athlete of the week honoree in 2019-20. Hudgins leads the nation in three-point field goal percentage (52.7%). He ranks No. 3 among NCAA Division II players in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.72). Hudgins is tops in the MIAA in assists (175 – 6.0 per game). Hudgins has three 30-plus point scoring contests and 17 20-plus point scoring games in 2019-20. He posted a career-high 36 points in a 96-49 win over Lincoln on Feb. 8.
Hawkins (Atlantic, Iowa) repeats as MIAA Defensive Player of Year and earned first team all-MIAA honors for the first time. Hawkins leads the Bearcats in scoring (22.8 ppg), rebounds (7.6 rpg), steals (2.1 spg) and blocked shots (0.7 bpg). Hawkins leads the MIAA in steals (65), ranks fifth in rebounding and fifth in minutes played per game. Hawkins is one of three MIAA players (Lincoln’s Jonell Burton, Missouri Western’s Will Eames) with at least 20 steals, 20 blocks, 20 assists and 20 three-pointers made. Hawkins is shooting 55.5% from the field and 45.0% from three-point range. Hawkins leads the Hawkins has collected eight double-doubles this season. Hawkins has reached 30 or more points on four occasions and he has posted 18 20-plus point scoring contests in 2019-20. Hawkins set the Northwest single-game scoring record with 44 points vs. Southern Nazarene on Nov. 2, 2019. Hawkins is a four-time MIAA athlete of the week award recipient.