Well, here it is back for the third year, the St. Thomas Men’s Basketball Awards Show Recap. I will provide the voting below and provide some end of the year commentary on the season.
Best Dunk Results
Winner-Raheem vs Omaha 62.1% of the vote
This was a dominating dunk, not surprised this was the winner at all. When an NBA Slam Dunk Champion is impressed, that should take it home. Thanks again to GR3 for weighing in. Raheem was also the unanimous newcomer of the year getting 100% of the vote beating out Carter. Not to worry Carter, I almost guarantee you will be an award winner at some point in the upcoming seasons.
Tallest Player Results
Winner-Drake Dobbs 41.4% of the vote.
I am always interested in this result, because I provide no context for it, other than providing the players actual height. Drake beat out last year’s tallest player Ryan Dufault who got 24.1%, Brooks got 20.7%, and the actual tallest player on the list Carter Bjerke got 13.8%.
Defensive MVP Results
Winner-Drake Dobbs 37.9% of the vote.
I did provide stats for this one, and believe it or not from a purely statistical measure, he was not a leader in any defensive categories. I will give kudos to the committee for seeing beyond stats and looking at his impact on the court, both for tallest player as well as for DPOY, the committee clearly watches a ton of UST basketball. Coach Tauer if he had a vote would probably vote for Drake as well based on our interview with him. He was everywhere, a well earned award. Parker was right behind him in the voting snagging a little less than 32%. I was glad we were able to in our interview get some clarity from Drake that he is returning. He will continue to be a huge help defensively for the squad next year.
Best Single Game Performance
Winner-Parker Bjorklund vs NDSU 32 points 9 rebounds 1 assist 2 steals 2 blocks 76% of the vote.
We had two 32 point performances to choose from for this award. Raheem got the remaining 24% of the vote for his 32 point 8 rebound performance against North Dakota. They were both fantastic performances. If I had to get into the committee’s collective mind, I think they really value huge performances against NDSU, and the fact that Parker had a bit better defensive stats in this one.
Team MVP
Parker Bjorklund 55.2% of the vote.
Similar to single game, there were only two vote getters despite having 4 nominees. The voting here between Parker and Raheem was tight, as Raheem got the remainder 44.8% of the vote. Parker had slightly more points per game, which I think was the tipping point here. It will be really exciting if both Parker and Raheem are able to find fits playing basketball overseas. They were both tremendous this season, will be exciting to watch them continue playing.
Final Thoughts+Thank You’s
First, I have to thank Todd Buckingham for providing this incredible platform to cover St. Thomas. Todd has assembled such a good group of people that are really passionate about being comprehensive in coverage for this league. Next is the St. Thomas basketball staff+players, they have been nothing but helpful for me, Todd, Tim Hill, and others to be able to cover them has been huge. The team is full of great stories, and the fact that we get to cover them is a huge treat. The fact that they help support an independently produced (and very low budget) awards show is something I am surprised by, but very grateful for. We appreciate everyone’s time, and their willingness to tell their stories and insight to us. The 35 members of the Committee for providing insightful voting. Matt Weimann for being a co-host.
I’ll wrap up my thoughts with sharing why there is an awards show. In D1 Year 1, UST had no winners of any league wide awards, Matt and I thought their incredible performances coming from D3->D1 should be recognized somehow, and thus the awards show was born. Now in Year 3, they have many leaguewide winners, have been semi-finalists two years in a row, and are seen as competitive challengers in the league. Roll Toms and onto D1 Year 4.