ST. LOUIS -- After helping UNI to a school-record 25 wins and the school's first outright regular-season crown in The Valley, Adam Koch has been named the 2010 Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year.  The senior forward is UNI's "glue" this year -- helping the Panthers achieve the highest national ranking in school history (18), while also leading the team to its most-ever league wins (15) since joining the Valley in 1991-92.  He is the first player in league history to earn Player of the Year honors after not finishing in the Top 10 in the conference of any of the following statistical categories -- scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, or blocks.  

 Koch, who was third in the player-of-the-year balloting a year ago, averages a team-best 12.4 points per game and is second for UNI with 4.8 rebounds per game.  His free throw shooting is fifth-best in the league as he's converted 120-of-144 from the stripe for 83.3 percent.   He has played in 126 games as UNI Panther to rank No. 4 on the all-time games played chart and could establish a school record by season's end.  Only Eric Coleman (128), Grant Stout (127) and Brooks McKowen (127) have played more games for the UNI Panthers.

•   Page 2 of this web posting (and the PDF link below) contains the entire lists

 Koch joins Jason Daisy (1997) as the only Panthers to earn the league's top honor.

 The league's Newcomer of the Year is Adam Leonard of Missouri State.  In his first year at MSU, the junior transfer from Eastern Kentucky ranks second for Cuonzo Martin's Bears in scoring (13.1 ppg.) and leads the league with 87 three-pointers made.  That number is tied for third-best among any first-year player in league history.  Leonard is the fourth MSU player to win Newcomer of the Year honors.  Spencer Laurie was the last Bear to win Newcomer of the Year honors, doing so in 2007.

 The league's Freshman of the Year hails from Evansville.  Colt Ryan is the league's top-scoring freshman and ranks second only to Illinois State's Osiris Eldridge for the league's top per-game scorer.  With 429 points this season (14.8 per game), he surpassed Jason Holsinger's freshman scoring record at UE (365) and he's the most-prolific scoring freshman in the Valley this decade (P'Allen Stinnett with 416 in 2007-08).  He's the first Purple Ace to earn the honor, which was first awarded in 1986.

 Dinma Odiakosa of Illinois State highlights the league's all-Defense unit, becoming the first Redbird to earn the league's Defensive Player of the Year honor since Dan Muller won two in a row (1996, 1997).  Odiakosa has 25 blocks to rank among the league leaders, and he leads the league in rebounding and field goal shooting.

 League coaches selected a “Sixth Man Award” recipient, and this season’s honor goes to UNI's Lucas O'Rear, for the second-straight year.  The honor is presented to the league's top reserve player (one who has started fewer than 25 percent of his team's games).  O'Rear averages 4.2 points and 4.5 rebounds and 19 minutes while appearing in 29 games, starting three.  He's the first to ever win the award twice.

 In addition to the specialty awards, the conference announced it's all-conference units (first-team, second-team and honorable mention), all-newcomer team, all-freshman team, and all-defense team -- as selected by the league coaches.  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 is attached.