KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Missouri Southern guard Skyler Bowlin was chosen as MIAA Player of the Year and MSSU head coach Robert Corn was selected as MIAA Coach of the Year to headline the 2010-11 all-conference men’s basketball team released Tuesday by the league office. The selections were made by the league’s 12 head coaches, and coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players.
Bowlin was the unanimous selection for player of the year after leading Southern to its first MIAA Championship since 1999-2000. The senior from Paragould, Ark, was fourth in the MIAA in scoring with 18.1 points per game, second in the conference in assists with 5.8 per game, and led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio with 152 assists to just 71 turnovers (2.1 ratio). Bowlin was also the lone unanimous All-MIAA First Team pick and was named to the MIAA All-Defensive Team for the third consecutive season.
In addition to his player of the year, all-conference and all-defensive team honors, Bowlin was named MIAA Co-Defensive Player of the Year with Fort Hays State forward Dijon Smith, his second straight year to garner the award. Bowlin led the league with 2.4 steals per game and anchored a Southern defense that ranked fourth in the MIAA in scoring defense, allowing just 69.4 points per game.
Smith was named co-defensive player of the year after leading the conference in blocked shots with 1.6 per game and leading Fort Hays State’s No. 3-ranked scoring defense in the league at just 69.3 points allowed per game. The senior from Omaha, Neb., was also an All-MIAA Second Team selection after ranking second in the conference in field goal percentage (.635) while averaging 14.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game for FHSU. Smith was named to the MIAA All-Defensive Team as well.
Corn was voted unanimous coach of the year after guiding Southern to its second MIAA title (first since 1999-2000), both under his supervision. It is Corn’s third coach of the year honor, as he also picked up the award in 1999-2000 and 2007-08.
Missouri Southern guard Marquis Addison is the MIAA Freshman of the Year after finishing second in the conference in steals with 2.0 per game and second in the league in free throw percentage at .854. The Olathe, Kan., product started all 26 games for Southern and averaged 9.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
Fort Hays State led the league with four All-MIAA selections, followed by Emporia State and Missouri Southern with three apiece, Missouri Western, Nebraska-Omaha, Northwest Missouri, Pittsburg State, Truman and Washburn with two each and Central Missouri, Lincoln and Southwest Baptist with one each.
The 2011 MIAA Basketball Championships begin Thursday at Municipal Auditorium in Downtown Kansas City with the men’s first round. Men’s award winners and All-MIAA First Team selections will be recognized prior to the 6 p.m. game Thursday evening.
2010-11 ALL-MIAA MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Skyler Bowlin, Sr., G, Missouri Southern
CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Skyler Bowlin, Sr., G, Missouri Southern
Dijon Smith, Sr., F, Fort Hays State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Marquis Addison, G, Missouri Southern
COACH OF THE YEAR
Robert Corn, Missouri Southern
FIRST TEAM
Skyler Bowlin, G, Sr., Missouri Southern**
Dominique Jones, G, Sr., Fort Hays State [r1]
Logan Stutz, C, Sr., Washburn
Tyler Bullock, G, Sr., Nebraska-Omaha [r1]
Jason Adams, G/F, Jr., Missouri Southern
**Unanimous Selection
[r1] - Repeat first team selection from last season
SECOND TEAM
De’Andre Washington, F, Sr., Washburn
Dijon Smith, F, Sr., Fort Hays State
Boo Hunter, G, Jr., Central Missouri
Tomas Brock, G, Sr., Southwest Baptist
DeShaun Cooper, G, So., Northwest Missouri
THIRD TEAM
Keane Thomann, C, Jr., Missouri Southern
Mitch Albers, G, Jr., Nebraska-Omaha
Ethan Freeman, F, Sr., Truman
Elijah Allen, F, Sr., Northwest Missouri
Matt Boswell, G, Sr., Emporia State
HONORABLE MENTION
Xavier Burnette, G, Sr., Emporia State
Adam Holthaus, F, Sr., Emporia State
Ken Bowman, F, Sr., Fort Hays State
Corbin Kuntzsch, G, Sr., Fort Hays State
Pierre DeClue, G, Sr., Lincoln
P’Allen Stinnett, G, Sr., Missouri Western
T.J. Johnson, G, Jr., Missouri Western
Eric Ray, G, Jr., Pittsburg State
Andra Bailey, F, Jr., Pittsburg State
Alex Henderson, G, Sr., Truman
ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Skyler Bowlin, G, Sr., Missouri Southern [r1][r1]
Dijon Smith, F, Sr., Fort Hays State
Torrian Harris, G, Sr., Nebraska-Omaha
Reggie Stallings, G, Jr., Central Missouri
Arunas Simanavicius, F, Sr., Northwest Missouri
[r1][r1] - Repeat selection from the last two seasons
