MEN’S BASKETBALL RELEASE FEBRUARY 28, 2008 NEWS RELEASE www.northernsun.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nick Kornder • Asst. Commissioner for Media Relations • 161 St. Anthony Ave. Ste 920 • St. Paul, MN 55103 • P: 651.288.4017 • F: 651.224.8583 • [email protected] NSIC PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2007-08 NSIC MEN’S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM No. 42 John Smith First Team Pos. Yr. Ht. School Hometown C, 6-8, Sr. 32 Craig Heiman F So. 6-5 Concordia-St. Paul Marshall, Wis. Johnsburg, Ill. 13 Kevin Ratzsch F R-Jr. 6-5 Northern State Bloomington, Ill. Johnsburg HS 30 Bryce Caldwell G Sr. 5-11 Wayne State Davenport, Iowa Winona State 21 Jonte Flowers G Sr. 6-4 Winona State Cottage Grove, Wis. 42 John Smith F Sr. 6-8 Winona State Johnsburg, Ill. John Smith repeats as NSIC Player of the Year after leading Winona State to a unde- Second Team Pos. Yr. Ht. School Hometown feated NSIC regular season (18-0). Smith, 32 Eric Erdmann F Fr. 6-5 University of Mary Fargo, N.D. the 2006-07 & 2007-08 NSIC Preseason 15 Levi Hamilton F Jr. 6-6 Northern State Lincoln, Neb. Player of the Year, led in the NSIC in scoring 2 Craig Nelson G R-Sr. 5-11 Northern State Mayville, N.D. (18.9), rebounding (8.1) and blocked shots 22 Matt Fletcher G Sr. 6-2 Southwest Minnesota St. North Branch, Minn. (2.67). (Bio Continued on Page 2) 5 Jamar Diggs G So. 6-2 Wayne State Minneapolis, Minn. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Third Team Pos. Yr. Ht. School Hometown 30 James Metcalf G Sr. 6-3 Concordia-St. Paul Killeen, Texas No. 21 Jonte Flowers 25 Travis Krenske G Sr. 6-2 Southwest Minnesota St. Faribault, Minn. 4 Quincy Henderson G Sr. 6-5 Winona State Madison, Wis. G, 6-8, Sr. 5 Luke Wicks G/F Sr. 6-1 Northern State Gillette, Wyo. Cottage Grove, Wis. 1 Jude Roybal G Sr. 5-9 Upper Iowa Albuquerque, N.M. Madison LaFollette HS Winona State 2007-08 NSIC Player of the Year John Smith, Winona State (Sr., F, Johnsburg, Ill.) Flowers repeats for the fourth straight season 2007-08 NSIC Co-Newcomers of the Year as the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year. He Justyn Burgess, MSU Moorhead (Jr., G, Minneapolis, Minn.) led the conference with 3.76 steals per game Matt Lesan, Upper Iowa (Fr., G, Solon, Iowa) for 64 during the 18 game league season. 2007-08 NSIC Defensive Player of the Year (Bio Continued on Page 2) Jonte Flowers, Winona State (Sr., G, Cottage Grove, Wis.) 2007-08 NSIC Coach of the Year NSIC COACH OF THE YEAR Mike Leaf, Winona State NSIC CO-NEwcOMERS OF THE YEAR Mike Leaf Winona State Justyn Burgess Matt Lesan G, 6-3, Jr. G, 6-2, Fr. Mike Leaf makes it four Minneapolis, Minn. Solon, Iowa consecutive years he has North HS Solon HS been named NSIC Men’s Basketball Coach MSU Moorhead Upper Iowa of the Year. (Bio Continued on Page 2) (Bio on Page 2) (Bio on Page 2) The NSIC is a 10-team, 17-sport, NCAA Division II Conference with teams located in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Bemidji State • Concordia - St. Paul • Univ. of Mary • Minnesota , Crookston • Minnesota State Moorhead • Northern State • SW Minnesota State • Upper Iowa • Wayne State • Winona State NSIC Men’s Basketball Team Notes NSIC PLAYER OF THE YEAR No. 42 John Smith (C, 6-8, Sr., Johnsburg, Ill. / Johnsburg HS) Winona State University John Smith repeats as NSIC Player of the Year after leading Winona State to a undefeated NSIC regular season (18-0). Smith, the 2006-07 & 2007-08 NSIC Preseason Player of the Year, led in the NSIC in scoring (18.9), rebounding (8.1) and blocked shots (2.67). Smith became the Winona State all-time leading scorer this season breaking the record that was previously held by David Zellmann (2,059), who along with Smith, helped the Warriors capture the 2005-06 Division II championship. Following the regular season, Smith has amassed 2,130 points in his career. Smith has played in 137 games, a Division II record for games played in a career. Smith broke the previous record of 133 set by former teammate Zach Malvik (2002-03, 2004-07), Gino Bartolone of Kentucky Wesleyan and Pat Morris of Bridge- port. Smith was named NSIC Player of the Week twice this season and was the NCAA DII Player of the Year last season. DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR No. 21 Jonte Flowers (G, 6-8, Sr., Cottage Grove, Wis. / Madison LaFollette HS Winona State University Flowers repeats for the fourth straight season as the NSIC Defensive Player of the Year. He led the conference with 3.76 steals per game for 64 during the 18 game league season. He was also 7th in the NSIC in rebounding (5.8) and 8th in blocked shots (1.12). On the offensive end, Flowers was third in the league in scoring (17.2), sixth in field goal percentage (.528) and sixth in assists (3.0). Flowers ranks second nationally with 3.5 steals per game. Flowers became the NCAA Division II all-time steals leader when he compiled 10 against Minnesota-Crookston in a 115-75 Winona State victory February 24. Flowers’ 388 career steals eclipsed the 383 by Eddin Santiago of Missouri Southern State. Flowers also moved up to No. 3 on the list for career steals for all NCAA divisions. Tennyson Whitted of Ramapo set the all-divisions record with 448 steals in 108 games. Flowers was Named NSIC Player of the Week three times this season. Flowers scored a career high 40 points on Feb. 16th against MSU Moorhead, the 13th highest scoring out put in DII this season. His ten steals against Minnesota, Crookston on Feb. 23rd tied for the top amount of steals in a single game in DII this season. NSIC COACH OF THE YEAR Mike Leaf - Winona State University Winona State Head Coach Mike Leaf makes it four consecutive years he has been named NSIC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year. Leaf led his squad to the regular season title for the fourth consecutive season with the Warriors finishing 18-0 in league play, tying the NSIC record for regular season victories which they set last season. The title is the fifth for the Warriors since the 1999-00 season and sixth under Leaf. The honor is the fifth in Leaf’s ten year tenure as he was named NSIC Coach of the Year in 1998-99, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07. NSIC CO-NEwcOMER OF THE YEAR Justyn Burgess (G, 6-3, Jr., Minneapolis, Minn. / North HS) MSU Moorhead Justyn Burgess scored in double figures in 15 games this season, including a 23 point outburst against St. Cloud State on Nov. 27th. His best overall game came against Graceland University on Nov. 24th when he scored 13 points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out eight assists. He averaged 12.4 points per game, 3.6 rebounds and shot 48.5% from the field in NSIC contests. NSIC CO-NEwcOMER OF THE YEAR Matt Lesan (G, 6-2, Fr., Solon, Iowa / Solon HS) Upper Iowa Matt Lesan started all but two of the 27 games during the Peacocks’ 2007-08 campaign. He led the team in scoring, averag- ing 12.6 points per game. He was second on the team in several categories per game including minutes (28.3), assists (1.7), and steals (1.0). In the offensive half court, Lesan was tenth in the NSIC in scoring, seventh in free throw percentage (79.8%) and 3-point percentage (44.6%), thirteenth in minutes played. The Solon, Iowa native shot 44% from the field and pulled down 2.3 rebounds per game. In Northern Sun games only, Lesan was sixth in scoring (14.6), fifth in free throw percentage (80.8%), eleventh in steals (1.17), fifth in 3-point percentage (45.9%), and ninth in minutes played (30.11). Lesan scored in double figures on 18 games, including a 27 point performance against Bemidji State on Jan. 18th where he was 9-of-12 from the field. National Stats include all games. All other stats are from NSIC games only unless noted. The NSIC All-Conference Team is selected by the League’s Coaches For Updated Info Visit: www.northernsun.org Bemidji State • Concordia - St. Paul • Univ. of Mary • Minnesota , Crookston • Minnesota State Moorhead • Northern State • Southwest Minnesota St. • Upper Iowa • Wayne State • Winona State.