Here is just one man’s opinion on postseason awards. Reaching the Summit voter awards to come
Player of the Year
Cameron Fens
Forward
South Dakota
Photo Adam Pearson USD
Personally I think this is an extremely tough decision this season. The clear top team, just doesn’t have a player who statistically stands out as North Dakota State had a very balanced attack. Nolan Minessale and Nick Janowski of St. Thomas sort of take away from each other as I don’t believe it easy to even pick between the two. Janowski scored more and had more rebounds and Minessale more assists and better on the defensive end. Carson Johnson the league’s leading scorer is certainly a potential pick but I give the edge to Fens. Paul Djobet was the 4th leading scorer and rebounder but I give the edge to Fens as he carried his team.
A little more on why Fens. The 7th best scorer and top rebounder in league play. His numbers are very similar to Oscar Cluff who was definitely regarded as a potential POTY candidate last year. Fens averaged a double double in league play and can be argued was the most dominant player in league play. Without Fens in my opinion South Dakota that is the 4 seed in this weeks Summit League Tournament would have been a 7 seed at best. Isaac Bruns missed the majority of Summit League play and Fens led the Coyotes to a solid Summit League season without one of the top scorers in the league. For all those reasons, Fens is my pick.
1st Team
Nolan Minessale G St. Thomas
Carson Johnson G Denver
Paul Djobet F Omaha
Trevian Carson G North Dakota State
Nick Janowski G St. Thomas
2nd Team
Joe Sayler G South Dakota State
Greyson Uelmen G North Dakota
Ty Harper G Oral Roberts
Damon Wilkenson F South Dakota State
Andy Stefonowicz G North Dakota State
Newcomer of the Year
Carson Johnson
Guard
Denver
Photo Denver Athletics
Another award with multiple deserving players, Johnson stands out slightly. Certainly Paul Djobet deserves consideration, being top 5 in scoring and rebounding. Also freshmen Nick Janowski and Greyson Uelmen but I tend to like to reserve the freshmen for Freshman of the year.
Johnson gets the nod leading the league in scoring and doing so in an electric and efficient manner. Johnson was also top 10 in assists and led the Pioneers to one of their better Summit League finishes in years.
Freshman of the Year
Nick Janowski
Guard
St. Thomas
Photo Collin Boyles
Again I think it worthy to mention how tight this race was. Greyson Uelmen was right there with Janowski. Janowski 2nd in scoring and Uelmen 5th. Two top 5 scoring freshmen! Ultimately Janowski with St. Thomas finishing second and maybe slightly better overall numbers gets the nod. Uzziah Buntyn of South Dakota is another freshman worth mentioning when talking about this award.
As said above Janowski was second in the league in scoring and also 11th in rebounding and 14th in assists and the all around numbers put the redshirt freshman over the top.
Defensive Player of the Year
Eli King
Guard
North Dakota
Photo Leighton Chamblee
Even before digging into the numbers. Just watching night in and night out, King’s defensive impact stands out. Constant hustle, plays great weakside defender, making plays all over the court. Some other names worth mentioning. Trevian Carson, maybe the best on ball defender in the league. Cameron Fens, best shot blocker in the league. Nolan Minessale, defensive impact similar to King. Ja’Sean Glover another all over the place defender.
Ultimately it’s King’s award though. Led the league in steals, 7th in blocks. All the time the head of North Dakota’s trapping defense that led to a 3rd place league finish.
Coach of the Year
Dave Richman
North Dakota State
Frankly another difficult award to choose. Johnny Tauer of St. Thomas should be recognized for the Tommies top ranked offense with a high NET ranking and second place league finish. Paul Sather of North Dakota with a finish that many would consider a surprise. Instituting an aggressive trap defense late in non-conference play that gave teams fits. Or Eric Peterson who’s injury plagued South Dakota, changed course from their full court press and fed big man Cameron Fens to in some people’s opinions a shocking 4th place finish.
I gave the nod to Richman. Not only for winning the league by a two game margin although I think that factors in. I think it’s fair to say that Richman was somewhat resistant for a couple years to embrace the portal, hoping culture would win out. This year a mixture of returnees and the right portal additions, buying into Richman’s way of playing led to the best team in the Summit League this year. I give the nod to Richman as he stayed true to what makes North Dakota State one of the best programs in the league but made the right additions that fit well in the portal.