KANSAS CITY, Mo. (March 23, 2020) -- The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced today the 2019-20 NABC Division I All-District teams and coaches, as selected and voted on by member coaches of the NABC in NCAA Division I. Eleven from the MVC are honored in District 16.
District 16
First Team
AJ Green, UNI
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola Chicago
Javon Freeman-Liberty, Valparaiso
Austin Phyfe, UNI
Darrell Brown, Bradley
Second Team
Liam Robbins, Drake
Tyreke Key, Indiana State
Marcus Domask, Southern Illinois
Roman Penn, Drake
Jordan Barnes, Indiana State
Coach of the Year: Ben Jacobson, UNI
BRADLEY
Brown, who was named to the second team in each of the last two seasons, is the first Brave to collect first-team honors since Walt Lemon, Jr. in 2012-13. He is also just the fourth BU student-athlete to receive the honor on three occasions, joining Bradley greats Chet Walker (1960-62), Mitchell Anderson (1980-82) and Hersey Hawkins (1986-88). The senior finished his career in the Bradley Red & White on top, leading the Braves to their second-straight Missouri Valley Conference Tournament crown. A second-time all-conference honoree, Brown was named Arch Madness Most Outstanding Player after averaging 21.7 points and 7.0 assists en route to the title. Overall, Brown finished the season ranked fourth in the Valley with 15.5 points per game, while placing second with 4.7 assists per contest. One of the best to play at Bradley, Brown is one of just three players to lead the team in scoring in all four seasons on campus – joining Paul Unruh '50 and Mitchell Anderson '82. The point guard also finished his career ranked fifth in program history with 1,860 points and fifth with 491 assists.
DRAKE
Liam Robbins finished fifth in the nation in blocks with 2.91 per game and third in total blocks ... his 99 total blocks set the Drake school record and he moved into second on Drake's career list with 135 career blocks ... his 99 blocks this season were the third-most in a season in Valley history ... he also more than tripled his offensive output this season to lead Drake in scoring at 14.1 points per game and be named the league's Most Improved Player.
Roman Penn's first season as a Bulldog resulted in a league-high 192 assists, the second-most in a season in school history ... he led the league in assists per game with 5.6 and ranked 31st nationally ... Penn was also second on the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game ... this season, he was one of four players in the nation to record at least 400 points, 160 rebounds and 190 assists.
INDIANA STATE
Key earlier this season was an All-MVC First Team selection and third in league-wide voting for the Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year Award. He also was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete team. Key averaged 15.6 points per game which ranked third-best in the league and his 1.9 3-pointers per game ranks ninth-best. Key ranked fourth-best in the league with an 84.6 percent mark from the free throw line while his 121 made free throws are third-most. He made 32 consecutive free throws from November 17 through December 3 to set a new school record in the MVC era and tie for the 14th-longest in MVC history. He joined the 1,000 point club in 73 career games which is the fourth-fastest to the mark in school history. Key led the team with 21 points as he hit 12-of-14 free throws in the season opener at Dayton and also paced the team with 20 points and four 3-pointers at No. 4 Louisville. He set new career highs with 18 free throws made on 22 free throw attempts to lead the team with 31 points in the home win over Tennessee State. Key went 10-of-11 from the free throw line, including a perfect 6-of-6 in the final two minutes to score 27 points and pull down nine rebounds in the road win over Missouri State. He went on to hit 7-of-11 shots from the field and scored 18 points in the home win over Loyola Chicago. Key tallied 20 points and went 9-of-15 from the field, with a pair of 3-pointers in the road win over Southern Illinois.
Jordan Barnes was also named to the All-MVC Third Team – his second such career honor by the league office. Barnes ranked 15th in the league with an average of 12.6 points per game. He dished out 111 assists this season which was fourth-best in the league. His 82.7 percent mark from the free throw line ranked sixth-best in the league. Barnes tallied 48 steals this year which is second-best in the league. He hit 39.8 percent of his 3-pointers over the course of the season which is seventh-best in the league. Barnes is the first player in Sycamore Basketball history to reach the Top 10 in career scoring, 3-pointers made, assists and steals ... He currently ranks second at ISU with 272 career 3-pointers made ... Owns 1,558 career points -- and became the 39th member of the Indiana State Basketball Club in just 77 games played. He ranks eighth-best in school history for points scored. Barnes tied a career-high with 29 points and seven 3-pointers made in the win over Loyola Marymount at the Junkanoo Jam. He then recorded four more treys in the win over Air Force en route to being named to the Junkanoo Jam All-Tournament Team. He posted 21 points as he hit a trio of 3-pointers with five rebounds and five assists at Valparaiso. Barnes then led the team with 18 points as he hit 7-of-10 from the field with a 3-pointer at Loyola.
LOYOLA
A First Team All-MVC selection this season, Krutwig had another sensational year, finishing second in the MVC Player of the Year balloting after being the preseason favorite to win the award. A starter in all 32 contests this winter, the big man averaged 15.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game, converting 56.3 percent (201-for-357) of his field goal tries. Krutwig became the first player in the storied history of the Missouri Valley Conference to rank in the top five in the league in scoring, rebounding, assists and field goal percentage. In December, Krutwig became the first Valley center since 1989 and the first Loyola player ever to record a triple-double when he racked up 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to power the Ramblers to a 78-70 victory over Vanderbilt at the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase in Phoenix. Krutwig, who ranked tops among all NCAA Division I centers with 4.2 apg this season, is one of only seven players in Loyola men's basketball annals to accumulate over 1,300 points and 700 rebounds in his career and currently ranks 17thin school history with 1,384 points and 13thwith 737 rebounds.
UNI
AJ Green adds to his post season awards with a First Team All-District nod. Green averaged 19.7 points per game while shooting 41.6 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from beyond the three point arc. Green was named MVC Player of the Year, First Team All-MVC and was named to the 2020 MVC Scholar Athlete of the Year.
Austin Phyfe lands of the NABC First Team after a season that saw the redshirt sophomore earn First Team All-MVC recognition. Phyfe averaged just under a double-double, recording 11.2 points per game and 8.2 rebounds per game. Pyhfe led the MVC in shooting percentage, making 61.7 percent of his attempts from the field.
Head coach Ben Jacobson has been named NABC District 16 Coach of the Year. Jacobson led the Panthers to a 25-5 record and a 14-4 mark in the MVC. The Panthers earned their second Regular Season Tittle under Jacobson this season and surpassed 20 wins for the eighth time in his tenure. Jacobson was named MVC Coach of the Year for the fourth time this season.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
SIU true freshman Marcus Domask had one of the best freshman seasons in school history. He averaged 13.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game, becoming one of only three freshmen in the nation to average those numbers. Memorably, he hit a game-winning jumper as time expired to beat Missouri State in front of a season-high 6,528 fans at Banterra Center on February 8. After the season, Domask was the league’s Freshman of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, and he also earned a spot on the All-MVC Second Team, becoming just the fourth freshman in the last 25 years to earn First or Second Team All-MVC.
VALPARAISO
Freeman-Liberty ranked 12th nationally in total steals (74), 15th in steals per game (2.24), 18th in total field goals made (227), 27th in total points (628) and 49th in points per game (19.0). The star sophomore finished second in the MVC in scoring average, sixth in rebounds per game (6.1), sixth in assists per game (3.2) and first in steals per game. He was the only player in the conference in the top six in all four categories and one of two in the top 10 in all four. His single-season point total ranked fifth in program history and set the program record for points by a sophomore, while his steal total shattered the previous record of 63 that had stood for nearly two decades. Freeman-Liberty finished the season with 992 career points and likely would have become the second player in program history to score his 1000th point as a sophomore if it weren’t for the cancellation of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament due to coronavirus concerns. He became the first player to lead the MVC in steals in back-to-back seasons since Bradley’s Hersey Hawkins did so in 1986, 1987 and 1988.