(LEBANON, Ill., March 9)—For the second consecutive year, McKendree University's Eric Hobbie (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) has been recognized as the top men's basketball player in the American Midwest Conference.
Hobbie (Vandalia, Ill./Vandalia) was named the 2010-11 AMC Men's Basketball Player of the Year in a vote conducted by the eight head coaches in the league. Hobbie received the award after the AMC Tournament championship game Tuesday at the Melvin Price Convocation Center. Hobbie, who was the 2009-10 AMC Player of the Year, is the second straight Bearcat player to receive the conference's top honor in back-to-back seasons. Eric Palm won Player of the Year honors in 2007-09 and 2008-09.
Despite missing 12 games during the first semester with a thigh injury, Hobbie leads the Bearcats by averaging 18.5 points and eight rebounds per game. He also leads the team in free throw percentage at .864 and has made a team-high 60 three-point field goals. In addition, Hobbie on second on the squad with 29 blocked shots and is fourth with 47 assists.
Hobbie has climbed up the Bearcats' all-time scoring chart throughout the season and currently sits in eighth place with 1,895 points. He also sits among McKendree's career top 10 in three-point field goals, blocked shots and steals. Hobbie is the first Bearcat player to earn first-team All-Conference honors four times since Mike Strobbe, who played at McKendree from 2003-07.
Last season, Hobbie was a first-team NAIA Division I All-America selection, and earned honorable mention accolades in each of his first two years at McKendree.
In addition to Hobbie, two other McKendree players were honored by the AMC with All-Conference accolades. Junior forward Sean Rakers (New Baden, IL/Wesclin) joined Hobbie as a first-team All-AMC recipient. Rakers (New Baden, Ill./Wesclin) is second on the squad in both scoring (14.7 PPG) and rebounding (7.8 RPG). Rakers leads the Bearcats with 36 blocked shots and also paces the team with a field goal percentage of .561. He leads the AMC in field goal percentage and also ranks among conference leaders in scoring and rebounding.
Rakers became the newest member of McKendree's 1,000-point club, reaching the milestone back on Jan. 29 against Park University. Rakers currently holds 36th place on the all-time scoring list with 1,133 points. He was a co-recipient of AMC Freshman of the Year honors in 2008-09, the same year he was an honorable mention All-Conference choice.
Senior guard Andy Wolff (Centralia, Ill./Metro-East Lutheran) (Centralia, Ill./Metro East Lutheran) was named to the AMC honorable mention All-Conference team. The only McKendree player to start in every game this season, Wolff is averaging 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game. He leads the squad in both assists and steals.
Wolff has led the Bearcats in assists each of the last three years, and became the program's career assist leader late in the regular season. Through the end of the AMC Tournament, Wolff has dished out 544 assists during his four-year McKendree career.
In addition to the on-court honors, seven McKendree players were placed on the AMC Academic All-Conference team. To be included on the AMC Academic All-Conference squad, a student-athlete must have a minimum 3.0 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and must have been with their program for the entire season.
Hobbie, Rakers and Wolff are members of the AMC Academic All-Conference team. They are joined by junior guard Kyle Heckert (Venedy, IL/Okawville) (Venedy, Ill./Okawville), junior forward Ian Ridge (Flora, IL/Flora) (Flora, Ill./Flora), sophomore guard John Steppe (Effingham, IL/St. Anthony) (Effingham, Ill./St. Anthony) and freshman guard Clinton Happe (Evansville, IN/F.J. Reitz) (Evansville, Ind./F.J. Reitz).
