MAC Announces 2004 All-Freshman Team and Three Specialty Awards
March 8, 2004
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CLEVELAND -- Three specialty awards and the all-MAC Freshman team were announced today as the first of the league's post-season honors signals the tip-off of this week's conference festivities that conclude Saturday night with the conference's championship game at Gund Arena.
The five freshmen who comprise the team, as voted by league head coaches, are Jeremiah Wood from Akron, Peyton Stovall of Ball State, Yassin Idbihi of Buffalo, Sonny Troutman of Ohio and Justin Ingram of Toledo. MAC Defensive Player of the Year is senior John Edwards of Kent State, Freshman of the Year Justin Ingram of Toledo and the Sixth Man of the Year is senior Reggie Berry of league champion Western Michigan. The Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Man awards were voted by league head coaches, while the Freshman of the Year was selected by the MAC News Media Association.
Edwards, a seven-foot center representing East Division champion Kent State, led the league in blocked shots and ranks 17th nationally with 74 in 27 games for an average of 2.7 per game, nearly one block better per game than the next rated player (1.8 per game). Edwards also finished 10th in rebounding at 6.4 per game and was the team's scoring leader at 13.0 ppg. He had a career-high tying six blocked shots Feb. 11 versus Buffalo and had five blocks in a game on three other occasions (Boston College, Ohio and Toledo). Edwards is the core of a defense that allows just 63.8 points per game, second in the MAC, and tops all MAC schools in field goal defense at .412. Edwards became the school's all-time leader in blocks this season and has 172 going into the MAC Tournament. He lettered four years and was one of the main reasons the Golden Flashes set a MAC record with their sixth consecutive 20-win season this year.
Berry appeared in all 27 games off the bench for the MAC Champion Broncos. A six-foot, four-inch guard, Berry averaged 23.4 minutes per game while contributing 9.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. He totaled 46 assists and 20 steals while scoring 10-plus points on 14 occasions. Berry's game high of 19 points came against IPFW, and he dished out a best of six assists at Toledo.
Ingram, a graduate of Waverly High School in Lansing, Mich., is the second consecutive Toledo player to win the Freshman of the Year honor, joining 2003 honoree Sammy Villegas. Ingram started all 27 games for the 18-9 Rockets and averaged 10.0 points and 2.9 rebounds a contest as well as leading the team with 94 assists. He is ninth among MAC players in assists with 3.48 per game, seventh in assist-turnover ratio (1.81) and tied for 12th in steals at 1.3 per game. Ingram scored a season high 18 points versus Siena and had a best of seven assists against Bowling Green. Ingram joins former Rockets Sammy Villegas (2003), Terry Reynolds (2001), Ken Epperson (1982) and Tim Reiser (1981) as the MAC Freshman of the Year.
Joining Ingram on the all-Freshman Team are three forwards and one guard. The guard, Peyton Stovall of Ball State, led all freshmen with 101 assists while starting 26 of the 27 games for BSU. Stovall's 3.74 assists per game is eighth in the league and he is also eighth in assist-turnover ratio (1.74) while averaging 7.4 points per game.
Yassin Idbihi was a huge part of Buffalo's nine-game improvement in its conference record from last year as he averaged 9.8 points and 5.7 rebounds per game while starting 24 of 27 games. He also had 20 blocked shots.
Jeremiah Wood was part of a youth movement at Akron that saw freshmen play 1,937 minutes. Wood started 25 of 27 games and averaged 10.0 ppg while leading the league in field goal shooting at .590 percent. He finished fifth in rebounding in the MAC with 7.4 boards per contest.
Sonny Troutman appeared in 23 games with 15 starts while averaging 9.6 points and 4.3 rebounds each game. Troutman had the top two scoring games by a freshman with 28 points versus Marshall and 26 against Bowling Green.
In the Freshman of the Year voting, Ingram garnered 24 votes with Stovall getting 16, Idbihi 9, Troutman 7 and Wood 5.
The 2004 MAC All-Freshman Team
Player School Pos. Ht. Hometown/High School
Jeremiah Wood Akron F 6-4 Akron, Ohio/Central-Hoover HS
Peyton Stovall Ball State G 6-1 Lafayette, Ind./Lafayette Jeff HS
Yassin Idbihi Buffalo F 6-10 Tangier, Morocco/Scholss Hagerhof HS
Sonny Troutman Ohio F 6-5 Indianapolis, Ind./Jesuit Prep HS
Justin Ingram Toledo G 6-3 Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS
2004 MAC Freshman of the Year - Justin Ingram, Toledo (Lansing, Mich./Waverly HS)
2004 Defensive Player of the Year - John Edwards, Kent State (Sr., Hudson, Ohio/Hudson HS)
2004 Sixth Man Award - Reggie Berry, Western Michigan (Sr., Houston, Texas/Stephen F. Austin HS)
The league's all-MAC team, Coach of the Year and Player of the Year will be announced Wednesday, March 10.
