MAC Announces 2001 All-Freshman Team and Two Individual Awards
UT's Reynolds Freshman of the Year; Kent State's Shaw Defensive Player of the Year
CLEVELAND -- A pair of guards, Kent State's Demetric Shaw and Toledo's Terry Reynolds,
won individual awards and league champion Central Michigan led the way with two of the
five players named to the 2001 Mid-American Conference All-Freshman team released today.
Kent State's Shaw, a 6-3 junior guard from Ft. Worth, Texas, was honored as the MAC
Defensive Player of the Year as voted on by league coaches. The league's Freshman of
the Year award went to Reynolds (Nashville, Tenn.) as voted by members of the MAC
News Media Association.
Shaw sparked a KSU defense that allowed just 62 points a game, second best in the
MAC, and had a league-high scoring margin of +9.2 per game. Individually, Shaw's
tenacious defensive play resulted in 48 steals and three blocked shots on the
season. Shaw's 1.66 steals per game was the fifth highest total in the MAC. Shaw's
play enabled the Golden Flashes to win 20 games for the third straight season and
the MAC East Division title for the first time ever.
Reynolds ran the Rockets' offense that resulted in a 21-9 record going into the
MAC quarterfinal round Thursday afternoon. Reynolds' 134 assists was the third
highest total in the league. He also averaged 12.8 points per game and finished
fourth in the league in steals per game with 1.71 (48 in 28 games). Reynolds
averaged 34 minutes per game in the 28 games he appeared in.
Joining Reynolds on the all-Freshman team were CMU's Chris Kaman, a 7-foot post
player from Wyoming, Mich., and Gerrit Brigitha, a 6-8 forward center from Niles,
Mich., both of whom played key roles in the team's regular-season title and 20-7
record. Also named to the all-freshman team were Miami guard Juby Johnson
(Warrensville Heights, Ohio) and Bowling Green forward Josh Almanson
(Bowling Green, Ohio). Voting was conducted among the 13 MAC head coaches.
Kaman played in all 27 games, averaging 9.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per
game while shooting 57.0% (102-of-179) from the field. Kaman also blocked
44 shots, the fourth highest total among all MAC players. Brigitha started
all 27 games for the Chippewas and averaged 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per
contest. He shot 52.9% (55-of-104) from the field.
Johnson a 6-5 guard, played in 30 games, started 26, and averaged 6.5 points
and 2.8 rebounds each contest. Johnson dished out 34 assists and had 22 steals for the RedHawks.
Almanson, a 6-8 forward, played in 27 games with four of those as a starter.
He made 67.3% (76-of-113) of his field goal attempts and averaged 7.1 points and
3.4 steals per game. Almanson added 23 blocked shots and shot 84.4% (38-of-45) from the free throw line.
The 2001 MAC All-Freshman Team
Player School P Ht. Hometown/High School
Josh Almanson Bowling Green F 6-8 Bowling Green, Ohio
Gerrit Brigitha Central Michigan F 6-8 Niles, Mich./Niles
Chris Kaman Central Michigan C 7-0 Wyoming, Mich./Tri-unity Christian
Juby Johnson Miami G 6-5 WarrensvilleHeights, Ohio/Warrensville Height
Terry Reynolds Toledo G 5-9 Nashville, Tenn./Oak Hill Academy
