INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) has released their GLVC All-Conference honors for the 2024-25 season on Wednesday, March 5th. Three Bearcat players earned their way onto the official list of honorees in separate categories.
Senior guard Kevin Stein (Chester, N.Y.) was named to the All-GLVC Second Team in his final year at McKendree. Stein was 17th in the conference slate in scoring at 14.8 points per game while being a high-end distributor with an eighth-best assisting rate of 3.6 and a 1.8 assist-to-turnover ratio (6th). His 45.9% from the field overall ranks 25th in the GLVC.
The former NABC Honors court selection last season led the team this year in scoring (14.2), assisting (3.9), and minutes (32.5). As one of only three Bearcats to play in all 27 outings thus far, Stein has scored in double figures in 18, 3+ assists in 21, and 3+ rebounds in 19. He also scored 30+ points in a game on two separate occasions.
Head Coach George Suggs gave the following on Stein:
"Kevin worked incredibly hard all of-season to give himself a chance to earn this honor. Beyond just his play on court, he has been a great leadership voice for us all year."
Fellow senior guard Joey Niesman (Oswego, Ill.) earned himself on to the GLVC All-Defensive team. Niesman averaged 1.4 steals per game in conference play, which is good eighth, as his 0.5 blocks a contest comes in at 22nd while his 5.5 rebounds an outing is 19th. On the team, he is first in stealing the ball at 1.6 times average with a second-best 0.5 blocking average. Niesman stole the ball at least once in his 27 outings 22 times, with six times collecting three or more, including obtaining an NCAA Division II team game-high seven against Malone University on November 9th.
Along with his highly defensive presence, the former James R. Spalding Award winner has an offensive skill set as well. He has a 15th GLVC-best field goal percentage of 49.1% and an 11th-best 82.7% from the free throw line. Niesman's 2.4 assists in conference play is 22nd. Throughout the entire season, he was leading the squad in rebounding at 5.1. while being second in scoring at 12.3 and assisting at 2.3.
Suggs gave the following on Niesman:
"Joey has been a great defensive presence for us all year. We are at our best when he sets the tone for us defensively and he will continue to do so."
Rounding out the team's honors collection was redshirt sophomore guard Justin King (Mascoutah, Ill.), who was selected as McKendree's recipient of the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award. The 15 student-athletes named to the James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Team earned the honor because they have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior during the 2024-25 season. The individuals named must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school's two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.
Suggs gave the following on King:
"Justin represents all that is right with college basketball. He cares deeply about his teammates, values winning, and respects the game and his opponents."
Below is the complete list of GLVC honorees for the 2024-25 season:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Nick Reid, Upper Iowa
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Troy Glover, Missouri-St. Louis
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Max Booher, Quincy
COACH OF THE YEAR: Bill Walker, Missouri S&T
FIRST TEAM ALL-GLVC
Rob Stroud, Lewis
Franck Yetna, Lincoln (Mo.)
Matt Enright, Missouri-St. Louis
Emanuel Prospere II, Missouri-St. Louis
Lovell Williams, Missouri S&T
Andrew Young, Missouri S&T
Brian Hawthorne, Rockhurst
Xavier Hall, Truman State
Nick Reid, Upper Iowa
Jordan Jermain, William Jewell
SECOND TEAM ALL-GLVC
Logan Applegate, Drury
Max Kunnert, Illinois-Springfield
DaShawn Jackson, Indianapolis
Ryan Renfro, Lewis
Paxton Warden, Lewis
Tyler Chapman, Lincoln (Mo.)
Kevin Stein, McKendree
Kobi Williams, Truman State
Kyle Hrncir, Upper Iowa
Noah King, Upper Iowa
GLVC ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
Colin Hardrick, Drury
Ryan Renfro, Lewis
Franck Yetna, Lincoln (Mo.)
Joey Niesman, McKendree
Alex Benassi, Missouri S&T
Lovell Williams, Missouri S&T
Troy Glover II, Missouri-St. Louis
Savon Wykle, Missouri-St. Louis
Xavier Hall, Truman State
Jason Thirdkill, William Jewell
GLVC ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Colin Hardrick, Drury
Tucker Tornatta, Indianapolis
Zac Brown, F, Missouri S&T
Max Booher, Quincy
Barron Silsby, Southwest Baptist
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Colin Hardrick, Drury
Isaiah Esker, Illinois-Springfield
Brody Whitaker, Indianapolis
Ryan Renfro, Lewis
Tyler Chapman, Lincoln (Mo.)
Luke Williams, Marryville
Justin King, McKendree
Tyler Hiedbrink, Missouri S&T
Savon Wykle, Missouri-St. Louis
Logan Robbins, Quincy
Nico Felici, Rockhurst
David Hector, Southwest Baptist
Casen Lawrence, Truman State
Gavin Hershberger, Upper Iowa
Luke Jordan, William Jewell
GLVC JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD TEAM WINNER
William Jewell
UP NEXT
McKendree has clinched their way into this year's GLVC Championship Tournament as an eight-seed, which will be held at the Hyland Arena on the Campus of Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri. There, they will take on the one seed and number 10 team in the country – Missouri S&T – at 12:00 PM CT on Thursday, March 6th.
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