CUW's Doedens Leads Men's Basketball Awards
The Northern Athletics Conference has announced the men's basketball awards for the 2011-12 basketball season, as voted on by the league's head coaches. Concordia Wisconsin's Luke Doedens led the All-NAC First Team and was named Player of the Year.
Marian's Mike Keller (Oostburg, Wis.) was named Freshman of the Year, Edgewood's Derek Nkemnji (Madison, Wis.) was tabbed Defensive Player of the Year, while Nkemnji's coach Todd Adrian was voted Coach of the Year by his peers.
Doedens (Cedarburg, Wis.) guided the Falcons (21-6, 14-2) to their third-straight NAC North Division title. The senior guard averaged 16.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He shot 47 percent from the field, 73 percent from the free-throw line, and over 44 percent from 3-point arc as he connected for 72 3-poiners, second most in the league. Defensively Doedens averaged 1.8 steals per contest.
This was Doedens second all-conference award, as he received a second team honor last season.
Keller started in all 26 games for the Sabres (10-16, 7-9) in his rookie campaign. He scored 9.7 points per game as he shot nearly 57 percent from the field -- fourth best in the conference.
Nkemnji was honored with the Defensive Player of the Year award after starting in all 28 games for the Eagles. The senior guard defended the opponents' top players including point guards and forwards alike, and was part of the Edgewood defense the held opponents to a 67.1 scoring average, second best in the conference.
Edgewood's Adrian led the Eagles (22-6, 12-4) to the NAC Tournament title after a second place finish in the North Division. The Eagles championship clinched them a spot in the upcoming NCAA Championship Tournament, their first appearance since 2005. The 22 victories are the third most in school history and most since the 1994-95 season.
In addition to the All-NAC teams there is also a five-member All-Freshman team. Below is a link to the complete All-NAC teams and awards.
Additionally the conference acknowledged the All-Sportsmanship team honorees. The team included one student-athlete from each school that was chosen based on the principles of sportsmanship as promoted by the NAC and NCAA.
