Men’s Basketball 1818 Chouteau Ave. • St. Louis, MO 63103 • (314) 444-4300 March 2, 2021 • Contact: Mike Kern Cameron Krutwig of Loyola is the 2021 Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year ST. LOUIS -- For the third time in the past four years, a Loyola Chicago student-athlete has earned the Larry Bird Trophy, present- ed to the MVC men’s basketball Player of the Year. Senior Cameron Krutwig of Loyola joins former Ramblers Clayton Custer (2018) and Marques Townes (2019) as Loyola players to earn the league's top individual honor, as announced by the league office today. This season Krutwig helped the Ramblers to a school-record 16 wins in Conference play, a regular-season crown, and a No. 20 national ranking. Krutwig will graduate as one of the most accomplished players to wear a Loyola uniform. The 6-foot-9 senior cen- ter recently became the only player in school history to rank in the program’s top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists. A year ago, he became the first player in the tradition-rich Missouri Valley Conference to finish a season ranked in the top five in scoring (15.1), rebounding (8.1), assists (4.2) and field goal percentage (.563). He is the only player in Loyola history and 2021 MVC Larry Bird Trophy Voting just the fourth in MVC history with at least 1,500 points, 800 rebounds and 300 assists. Last December, he became the first Student-Athlete, School 1st 2nd 3rd ALL Rambler in program history to record a triple-double when he Cameron Krutwig, Loyola 41 4 1 132 totaled 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a victory over Roman Penn, Drake 4 20 9 61 Vanderbilt. Isiaih Mosley, Missouri State 3 12 19 52 The First Team all-MVC team features three seniors, a Tyreke Key, Indiana State -- 14 14 42 junior and a sophomore. The honorees on the league's first- Student-athletes received three points for a first-place vote, team unit hail from the top four teams in the league standings two points for a second-place vote and one point for a third-place (Loyola, Drake, Missouri State and Indiana State). vote. Panelists could not vote for the student-athletes on their team (or for media, the team they cover). Voting was conducted by coaches, sports information direc- A total of 50 voters served on the 2021 panel, including four tors and a media panel (voters could not vote for their own voters from each school and an MVC network panel, consisting student-athlete.) Including this year, 0 freshmen, 3 sopho- of 10 additional voters. Only the top-five four getters are listed, so the totals may not add up to 50, and the maximum number of mores, 17 juniors (seven of whom repeated) and 33 seniors total votes received is 46 (school panel can't vote for their own). have won the award (spanning 1969-2021). The league's top newcomer is ShanQuan "Tank" Hemphill of Drake. The graduate transfer from Green Bay has been instrumental in Drake's historic season. The Bulldogs set a program record by winning their first 18 games, and Drake has also won 20 or more games for the third-straight season, marking just the second time in program history the Bulldogs have had three-straight 20-win seasons. Tank is just the fifth Drake player to earn Newcomer of the Year honor, joining Lewis Lloyd (1980), David Miller (1986), Curt Smith (1993), and B.J. Windhorst (1995). Krutwig's teammate -- Lucas Williamson -- is the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Williamson anchors the Rambler defense, which has been one of the top teams in the nation in scoring defense over the last four seasons. Loyola finds itself among the NCAA’s best again this year, ranking first in the country in that category, and the Ramblers also lead the MVC in field goal percent- age defense. Williamson is the second Rambler to earn MVC Defensive Player of the Year honors (Ben Richardson, 2018). The league began selecting a Defensive Player of the Year in 1989. The league's Freshman of the Year is Bowen Born of UNI. The MVC began selecting a Freshman of the Year award in 1986, and he's the fourth Panther to win the honor, joining Eric Coleman (2005), Seth Tuttle (2012) and AJ Green (2019). Tuttle and Green both later earned the league's Larry Bird Trophy. Born has started every game for UNI this year and averages 11.4 points per game while connecting on a team-best 45 three-point tries. His 55 assists are third-best on the team. The MVC also selects a “Sixth Man Award” recipient, and for the first time it goes to a Drake student-athlete. The honor is presented to the league's top reserve player (one who has started fewer than 25 percent of his team's games - in all games or in conference-only play). Sophomore Joseph Yesufu enters the State Farm MVC Tournament as the team's top scorer in four of their past five contests. Following an injury to starting point guard Roman Penn, Yesufu responded by scoring 32 points and 36 points in back-to-back games. His 36 points are the most scored by an MVC player this season, while his back-to-back 30-point games are the first by a Bulldog since 1988-89. In addition to the specialty awards, the conference announced its all-conference units (first-team, second-team, and third-team), all-newcomer team, all-freshman team, and all-defense team. The all-bench and most-improved units have been selected by the league’s beat writers and will be announced Wednesday (March 3). A complete listing of all-conference honorees and previous season specialty award winners is attached. MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE 2020-21 Men’s Basketball 2021 All-Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Team LARRY BIRD MVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR First Team Yr. Pos. Ht. Hometown Cameron Krutwig, Loyola Tyreke Key, Indiana State Sr. G 6-3 Celina (Tenn.) Clay County High Cameron Krutwig, Loyola Sr. C 6-9 Algonquin (Ill.) Jacobs High NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR Isiaih Mosley, Missouri State So. G 6-5 Columbia (Mo.) Rock Bridge High ShanQuan Hemphill, Drake Roman Penn, Drake Jr. G 6-0 Calumet City (Ill.) Bishop Noll / Siena Gaige Prim, Missouri State Sr. F 6-8 Aurora (Colo.) Grandview High FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR Bowen Born, UNI Second Team Elijah Childs, Bradley Sr. F 6-8 Kansas City (Mo.) Lee's Summit West DEFENSIVE MVP Shamar Givance, Evansville Jr. G 5-10 Toronto (Ontario) First Love Christian (Pa.) Lucas Williamson, Loyola ShanQuan Hemphill, Drake Sr. F 6-6 Gary (Ind.) Michigan City / Green Bay Jake LaRavia, Indiana St. So. F 6-9 Indianapolis (Ind.) Lawrence Central High SIXTH-MAN OF THE YEAR Lucas Williamson, Loyola Sr. G 6-4 Chicago (Ill.) Whitney Young Joseph Yesufu, Drake Third Team DJ Horne, Illinois State So. G 6-1 Raleigh (N.C.) Trinity Christian MVC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE Lance Jones, S. Illinois So. G 6-1 Evanston (Ill.) Evanston Township High OF THE YEAR Ben Krikke, Valparaiso So. F 6-9 Edmonton (Alberta) Jasper Place TBA - Thursday Austin Phyfe, UNI Jr. C 6-9 Waverly (Iowa) Waverly-Shell Rock Aher Uguak, Loyola Sr. F 6-7 Edmonton (Alberta) HarryAinlay / New Mexico MOST IMPROVED TEAM CAPTAIN All-Newcomer Team TBA - Wednesday Bowen Born, UNI Fr. G 5-11 Norwalk (Iowa) High Darnell Brodie, Drake Jr. F 6-10 Newark (N.J.) Newark East Side / Seton Hall DOUG ELGIN AWARD ShanQuan Hemphill, Drake Sr. F 6-6 Gary (Ind.) Michigan City / Green Bay MVC TOURNAMENT MOP Braden Norris, Loyola So. G 6-0 Hilliard (Ohio) Hilliard Bradley / Oakland TBD Demarcus Sharp, MSU Jr. G 6-3 Charleston (Mo.) High / Colby (Kan.) CC MVC COACH OF THE YEAR All-Freshman Team Announced Thursday, March 4 Bowen Born, UNI Fr. G 5-11 Norwalk (Iowa) High Sheldon Edwards, Valparaiso Fr. G 6-4 West Palm Beach (Fla.) Palm Beach Lakes Scholar-Athlete (1st Tm.) TLAP Sports Academy Kyler Filewich, S. Illinois Fr. C 6-9 Winnepeg (Canada) Orangeville Prep Announced Thursday, March 4 Nate Heise, UNI Fr. G 6-4 Lake City (Minn.) Lincoln High Rienk Mast, Bradley Fr. F 6-9 Groningen (Netherlands) Donar Groningen Scholar-Athlete (2nd Tm.) Announced Thursday, March 4 All-Defensive Team ShanQuan Hemphill, Drake Sr. F 6-6 Gary (Ind.) Michigan City / Green Bay Scholar-Athlete (HM) Gaige Prim, Missouri State Sr. F 6-8 Aurora (Colo.) Grandview High Announced Thursday, March 4 Aher Uguak, Loyola Sr. F 6-7 Edmonton (Alberta) HarryAinlay / New Mexico Tre Williams, Indiana State So. C 6-7 Reynoldsburg (Ohio) Woodstock Academy All-Tournament Lucas Williamson, Loyola Sr. G 6-4 Chicago (Ill.) Whitney Young TBD All-Bench Team (selected by beat writers) Announced Wednesday, March 3 Most-Improved Team (selected by beat writers) Announced Wednesday, March 3 *denotes team "captain" as designated by the league's beat writers.