MAC Announces Men's Basketball Specialty Awards
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Today the Mid-American Conference announced that Miami’s Michael Bramos, Ball State’s Jarrod Jones and Akron’s Nate Linhart and Brett McKnight have earned top honors for the 2008-09 basketball season. Bramos was named Player of the Year, Jones was tabbed as Freshman of the Year and teammates Linhart and McKnight captured Defensive Player of the Year Sixth Man of the Year honors, respectively. The Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year awards were voted on by the MAC News Media Association members, while Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year were voted on by the league's head coaches.
Bramos edged Ohio’s Jerome Tillman by four votes in the Player of the Year race. Western Michigan’s David Kool followed in the voting for the top player in the conference, while Bowling Green’s Nate Miller and Kent State’s Al Fisher also received consideration.
Bramos is a two-time all-MAC honoree, earning first-team distinction this season and second-team honors a year ago. He was a four-time MAC East Division Player of the Week recipient this season and ranks second among league leaders in conference-only games in scoring, averaging 17.6 ppg through 16 MAC games. He ranks among MAC statistical leaders in six categories this season. Bramos has surpassed the 20-point scoring plateau nine times this year, including two outings with 30 or more points. On March 8, he recorded his first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds at Buffalo.
Bramos has placed his name on six Miami career statistical top-10 lists (scoring, 3-point field goals, 3-point field goal percentage, free throw percentage, blocked shots and steals). He has amassed 1,491 points, moving into seventh on Miami's career scoring list and is just nine points away from becoming just the sixth player in program history to record 1,500 career points, joining such notables as Harper, Szczerbiak, Devin Davis, Eric Newsome and Damon Frierson.
Jones becomes the fifth Cardinal all-time to earn Freshman of the Year accolades and the first since 2006 when Maurice Acker took home the hardware. Jones, an Honorable Mention All-MAC selection, was the first Cardinal freshman since the 1979-80 season to earn All-MAC accolades (Ray McCallum) as he led BSU to a share of the MAC West Division title. He leads the Cardinals in scoring at 11.0 points per game and in rebounding at 7.4 boards per game. He ranks fifth all-time in Ball State history for freshman scoring and third all-time among freshman rebounding.
Linhart, who routinely draws the top defensive assignment on a Zips' opponent, leads the team and ranks third in the MAC in steals (59/1.8 spg) this season. He also is tied for the team lead in blocked shots, with 17 (0.5 bpg) (Mike Bardo). Over UA's last three contests he has compiled 10 steals, including three of the squad's 13 in Tuesday night's victory over Toledo. Having playing in a school-record-tying 130 career games (102 starts), his 183 career steals are third most in program history and his 52 blocked shots place him eighth on the school's all-time list in that category.
McKnight averages a team-high 11.3 points (ranks 16th in the MAC) to go with 3.7 rebounds. He has appeared in all 32 games this season, averaging 21.3 minutes of play primarily off the bench (just two starts and one in MAC play). Particularly efficient during conference play, he ranked second for the Zips in field goal percentage in MAC only games (47.1 percent), behind older brother Chris (48.6 percent). Brett, who scored the game-winning tip-in in the Toledo game, averaged a team-best 12.1 points in UA's 16 league games.
Men’s Quarterfinal action resumes tomorrow at Quicken Loans Arena as No. 2 Ball State takes on No. 7 Central Michigan at Noon, No. 3 Buffalo faces off against No. 6 Kent State at 2:30 p.m., No. 1 Bowling Green plays No. 9 Ohio at 7 p.m. and No. 4 Miami will tangle with No. 5 Akron at 9:30 p.m. All games will be broadcast on FS Ohio.
Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Michael Bramos, Miami
Men's Basketball Freshman of the Year
Jarrod Jones, Ball State
Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year
Nate Linhart, Akron
Men's Basketball Sixth Man of the Year
Brett McKnight, Akron
