CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Today the Mid-American Conference announced that Akron’s Romeo Travis and Western Michigan’s David Kool have earned top honors for the 2006-07 basketball season. Travis was named Player of the Year, while Kool captured Freshman of the Year honors. The awards were voted on by a 50-member panel of MAC News Media Association members. Kool was a near unanimous selection by the MNMA, while Travis edged Toledo’s Justin Ingram by four votes in the Player of the Year race. Central Michigan’s Giordan Watson followed in the voting for the top player in the conference, while Ohio’s Jerome Tillman, Miami’s Tim Pollitz and Western Michigan’s Joe Reitz also received consideration.
Travis led the Zips to an East Division title and a No. 2 seed in the FirstEnergy MAC Men’s Basketball Tournament. His selection marks the first time in league history that a player from Akron has won the award. The senior from Akron, Ohio leads the Zips in scoring this season (15.1 ppg/sixth in MAC), and ranks ninth on UA’s career scoring chart with 1,451 points (119 games). He is also the program’s all-time blocked shots leader, with 158 (team-high 58 blocks/2.0 bpg this season/second in MAC), while his 767 career rebounds is ninth best mark in school history. His 6.0 rebounds-per-game is second best on the squad and ranks 10th in the league. Travis has scored in double figures in 25 games this season (six straight and in 21 of the last 23), and has hit that double-digit mark 79 times in 119 career games. Travis was also named to the NABC All-District 10 Second Team for the second consecutive year last week.
“This is a great honor” said Travis. “I want to thank God, my family, my coaches and teammates, the fans and the media. Without all of them none of this would be possible.”
“No one deserves this honor more than Romeo” said Akron head coach Keith Dambrot. “He’s been with me for a long time and he’s part of our Akron family. He’s a winning guy and has put his mark on this program. There’s no way we could have accomplished all that we have over the last three seasons without him.”
Kool became the third player in WMU history to be recognized as Freshman of the Year. The last player from Western Michigan to win the award was Ben Reed in 2002. The first-year standout is currently third on the Broncos roster with a scoring average of 11.2 ppg. and averaged 13.4 ppg. in conference games. Kool has been automatic from the charity stripe this season (82-of-90) and ranks sixth in the nation (first in the MAC) with a free-throw percentage of 91.1 pct. The freshman also finished the regular season with a three-point field-goal pct. of .437 (third in the MAC) and is currently 14th in the league in field goal pct. (.460).
“I’m honored to be named MAC Freshman of the Year,” said Kool. “It’s just been a great year for me. This is a team award also, because of the great job my teammates did bringing me along. I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the things I did without my teammates help on and off the court. This is a great team award as well as an individual award.”
“I feel David is very deserving of this award,” said WMU Head Coach Steve Hawkins “We’re happy for him and very proud of him. He’s a freshman who doesn’t play like a freshman because of the maturity of his game and the decisions that he makes on the court that I think shows in all of his numbers.”
Kool’s No. 6 seeded Western Michigan Broncos will take on the No. 11 seed Northern Illinois Huskies in the first round of the 2007 FirstEnergy MAC Men’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m. Travis and the Zips will face off against the winner of the Central Michigan vs. Buffalo game in the Quarterfinals on Thursday, March 8 at 7 p.m.
Tomorrow the All-MAC and All-Freshman teams will be announced along with the Sixth Man of the Year Award and Defensive Player of the Year Award.
