Belmont's Tyler Lundblade has been named the MVC's Larry Bird Trophy Winner.  The Larry Bird Trophy, given to the MVC men’s basketball Player of the Year, is presented by Great Southern Bank. He's the first Belmont student-athlete to earn the honor.

MVC All-Conference Release (PDF)
 

2026 All-Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Team
First Team	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown
Jaquan Johnson, Bradley	So.	G	Milwaukee, Wis. (Pius XI)
Fred King, Murray State	Sr.	C	Mangrove Cay, Andros, Bahamas (Creighton)
Tyler Lundblade, Belmont	Gr.	G	Dallas, Texas (Greensboro Day School) TCU/SMU
Drew Scharnowski, Belmont	R-So.	F	Burlington, Ill. (Central HS)
Jalen Quinn, Drake	Sr.	G	Tuscola, Ill. (Tuscola HS) Loyola Chicago
Chase Walker, Illinois State	Jr.	F	Columbus, Ohio (St. Charles HS)
Second Team	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown
Trey Campbell, Northern Iowa	Sr.	G	Cedar Falls, Iowa (Cedar Falls HS)
Elijah Crawford, UIC	So.	G	Augusta, Ga. (Brewster Academy) BYU
Quel'Ron House, S. Illinois	So.	G	Louisville, Ky. (Seneca HS) Jacksonville State
Javon Jackson, Murray State	Sr.	G	Houston, Texas (C.E. King) UIC / Utah State / S. Nazarene
Sam Orme, Belmont	R-So.	F	Carmel, Ind. (Carmel HS)
Third Team	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown
AJ Casey, Evansville	Sr.	F	Chicago, Ill. (Whitney Young HS) Miami / Saint Louis
Owen Dease, Valparaiso	R-Sr.	F	Evansville, Ind. (Evansville Reitz) Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Roman Domon, Murray State	Fr.	G/F	Dreuil Les Amiens, France (BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque)
Alex Huibregtse, Bradley	Gr.	G	Grafton, Wis. (Grafton HS) Wright State
JT Pettigrew, Valparaiso	Fr.	F	Lisle, Ill. (Bolingbrook HS)
All-Newcomer Team	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown
Elijah Crawford, UIC	So.	G	Augusta, Ga. (Brewster Academy) BYU
Quel'Ron House, S. Illinois	So.	G	Louisville, Ky. (Seneca HS) Jacksonville State
Alex Huibregtse, Bradley	Gr.	G	Grafton, Wis. (Grafton HS) Wright State
Fred King, Murray State	Sr.	C	Mangrove Cay, Andros, Bahamas (Creighton)
Jalen Quinn, Drake	Sr.	G	Tuscola, Ill. (Tuscola HS) Loyola Chicago
All-Freshman Team		Pos.	Hometown
Eoin Dillon, Belmont		F	Peoria, Ill. (Notre Dame HS)
Roman Domon, Murray State		G/F	Dreuil Les Amiens, France (BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque)
Andy Johnson, UIC		G	Union, Ky. (Cooper HS)
JT Pettigrew, Valparaiso		F	Lisle, Ill. (Bolingbrook HS)
Jack Smiley, Belmont		G	Valparaiso, Ind. (La Lumiere)
All-Defensive Team	Yr.	Pos.	Hometown
Leon Bond III, Northern Iowa	R-Jr.	G/F	Wauwatosa, Wis. (Wauwatosa HS) Virginia
Trey Campbell, Northern Iowa	Sr.	G	Cedar Falls, Iowa (Cedar Falls HS)
Jaquan Johnson, Bradley	So.	G	Milwaukee, Wis. (Pius XI)
Fred King, Murray State	Sr.	C	Mangrove Cay, Andros, Bahamas (Creighton)
Drew Scharnowski, Belmont	R-So.	F	Burlington, Ill. (Central HS)
All-Bench Team (selected by beat writers & panel)
*Roman Domon, Murray State	Fr.	G/F	Dreuil Les Amiens, France (BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque)
Justus McNair, Valparaiso	So.	G	Joliet, Ill. (Joliet West HS)
Brigham Rogers, Belmont	Jr.	F	Woodstock, Ga. (Blessed Trinity)
Jack Smiley, Belmont	Fr.	G	Valparaiso, Ind. (La Lumiere)
Montana Wheeler, Bradley	Fr.	G	Houston, Texas (Xavier Academy)
Most-Improved Team (selected by beat writers & panel)
*Jaquan Johnson, Bradley	So.	G	Milwaukee, Wis. (Pius XI)
Rolyns Aligbe, Southern Illinois	So.	F	Minneapolis, Minn. (Minnehaha Acad.) / Winchendon Prep
Will Hornseth, UNI	So.	F	De Pere, Wis. (De Pere HS)
Justus McNair, Valparaiso	So.	G	Joliet, Ill. (Joliet West HS)
Drew Scharnowski, Belmont	R-So.	F	Burlington, Ill. (Central HS)
*denotes team "captain" as designated by the league's beat writers and media panel

The league began honoring a Player of the Year for the first time in 1969. Voting was conducted by coaches, sports information directors and a media panel (voters could not vote for their own student-athlete.) Including this year, 0 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 20 juniors (eight of whom repeated) and 34 seniors/grad students have won the award (spanning 1969-2026).



Belmont's Casey Alexander, in his seventh season as Belmont's head coach, is a proven winner and earlier this week was named a finalist for the 2025-26 Skip Prosser Man of the Year Award. The award is presented annually the NCAA Division I head coach who wins with integrity on and off the court.  This season, Alexander has led Belmont to 26 victories, an MVC regular-season championship, and a Top-50 national ranking. The Bruins enter the week ranked third in the nation in effective field goal percentage and are third nationally in road/neutral victories behind only Michigan and Miami.

Since Alexander became head coach prior to the 2019-20 season, Belmont's 166 victories rank 14th nationally – among the likes of UConn, Purdue, Utah State, and Alabama, and ahead of the likes of Tennessee, Auburn, Creighton, and Baylor.  

Belmont earned its first outright MVC title in men’s basketball with its win on Feb. 21 against Indiana State. The Bruins have earned 13 regular season conference championship in the last 21 years – spanning three different conferences (ASUN, OVC, MVC). Belmont, Houston, and Louisville are believed to be the only three NCAA Division I programs to win men’s basketball conference championships in three different leagues over the last two decades.



Belmont’s Tyler Lundblade entered the week leading the nation with his 93.4 free throw percentage accuracy. That figure currently ranks fifth-best for a single season in MVC history. Lundblade also ranks in the Top 10 in the NCAA in three-pointers attempted (5th, 273) and threes made (2nd, 112).  His 112 made treys this year rank sixth-best in a single season in MVC history. The only player in America to walk-on and earn a scholarship at three different schools (SMU, TCU, Belmont), Lundblade stands with the likes of Honor Huff (West Virginia) and Lamer Wilkerson (Indiana) for the most three-point field goals made over the last two seasons.



Fred King of Murray State is the first Racer to earn the league's Newcomer of the Year honor. The first-year transfer from Creighton is among the league leaders in points, rebounds, and blocked shots. King is tied for 10th in the MVC in scoring with his 13.2 scoring average, he leads the MVC in rebounding (8.4), is second in the Conference in field goal percentage (64.3) and is the MVC's top shot blocker, with 59 rejections (1.97 per game).



The league's Defensive Player of the Year is Jaquan Johnson of Bradley. A three-time MVC Player of the Week, Johnson leads the league in steals and ranks sixth in the NCAA in steals per game (2.58). His 80 steals ranks third-best in the NCAA, and is 12th-best all-time in MVC history. Johnson also ranks second in the league in scoring.  He's the sixth Bradley student-athlete to earn the honor. Others include Adebayo Akinkunle (1998), Jerome Robinson (2001), Patrick O’Bryant (2006), Dyricus Simms-Edwards (2013), Malevy Leons (2023 and 2024). The league began selecting a Defensive Player of the Year in 1989.



The league's Freshman of the Year and "Sixth Man Award recipient is Roman Domon of Murray State.  The Sixth Man Award 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). He's the first Murray State player to earn either award. Domon has made an immediate impact for the Racers in his first year with the program.  He is a four-time MVC Freshman of the Week honoree, and he's scored in double figures 22 times this season. His 441 total points entering Arch Madness are the sixth-most by an MVC freshman since 2000, and that total is the 13th-most by any MVC freshman on record.

In addition to the specialty awards, the Conference has 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 were announced Tuesday (March 2), and the league's Scholar-Athlete Team will be announced Thursday. A complete listing of all-conference honorees and previous season specialty award winners is attached.