Player of the Year (well half year)
Kevin Obanor, Sr, Oral Roberts
Obanor, the junior from Houston Texas had plenty of deserving competition for this award. However the more a person digs into the statistics the better you feel about him edging out the strong competition in the Summit League. Oral Roberts is 5-1 in Summit league play so the winning team box is checked and the statistical boxes check off too. Obanor is 3rd in the Summit in scoring at 19.1 points per game and leads the league in rebounding at 9.8 rebounds per game. Obanor is also incredibly efficient as he is 3rd in the league in field goal percentage at .521%. Many wondered what would happen if Obanor would take more shots a game and I think we have our answer, same efficiency, better numbers.
Newcomer of the mid-year
A.J. Plitzuweit, South Dakota
Plitzuweit sat out last year redshirting and waiting to take over the reins as the lead guard for the Coyotes. It seems the wait was worth it. Plitzuweit has proven to be one of the top lead guards in the Summit. Plitzuweit is leading the conference in assists per game at 4.0, and is 7th in the league in scoring at 15.9. Plitzuweit’s role and impact continues to grow as the season goes on so we may not have seen the best of Plitzuweit yet.
All Summit Mid-Year 1st Team
Player: Stat (conference rank)
G Stanley Umude, South Dakota: 21.2 points (2) 7.3 rebounds (4) 2.5 assists per game
G Max Abmas, Oral Roberts: 21.5 points (1) 3.2 rebounds 3.9 assists (2) 1.5 steals (2) per game
G Noah Freidel, South Dakota State: 18.3 points (5) 5.2 rebounds (15) 2.1 assists (15) 1.0 steals per game.
F Rocky Kreuser, North Dakota State: 15.1 points (10) 6.9 rebounds (5) 1.6 assists per game
F Kevin Obanor, Oral Roberts: 20.2 points (3) 9.8 rebounds (1) 1.0 assists
All Summit Mid-Year 2nd Team
G Jase Townsend, Denver: 19.9 points (4) 4.1 rebounds 1.5 assists per game
G A.J. Plitzuweit, South Dakota: 15.9 points (7) 4.0 rebounds 4.0 assists (1) per game
G Brandon McKissic, Kansas City: 15.8 points (8) 3.9 rebounds 3.4 assists (4) 1.4 steals (4) per game
G/F Baylor Scheierman, South Dakota State: 14.1 points (11) 9.0 rebounds (2) 2.5 assists (10) 1.1 steals (6) per game
F Filip Rebraca, North Dakota: 16.8 points (6) 6.9 rebounds (5) 1.2 assists per game
All Summit Mid-Year Newcomer 1st team
G Tyree Ihenacho, North Dakota: 7.2 points 4.7 rebounds 3.7 assists (3) 1.9 steals (1) per game
G RJ Glasper, Oral Roberts: 10.9 points 3.1 rebounds 2.1 assists (13) .9 steals per game
F Sam Hines, Denver: 10.5 points 6.4 rebounds (11) 1.4 assists per game
F Will Carius, Western Illinios: 11.0 points 5.5 rebounds (13) 1.3 assists .9 steals .8 blocks per game
F Tamell Pearson, Western Illinios: 12.4 points (13) 6.9 rebounds (5) 1.0 assists .8 blocks per game