Men’s Basketball Hands Out 2017-18 Team Awards
HOUGHTON, Mich. – The Michigan Tech men's basketball program and Head Coach Kevin Luke announced the 2017-18 team award winners Wednesday night (April 18). Junior forward Kyle Monroe, who was selected as the Ken Hamar Award for the Most Valuable Player, was one of four Tech players honored with team awards.
Monroe, who hails from Green Bay, Wisconsin, picked up MVP honors for the third consecutive season. He earned 2018 Division II Conference Commissioners Association Second Team All-American honors after being selected to the CCA All-Midwest Region First Team on his way to a spot on the All-American Team. In addition to his CCA honors, Monroe was also named to the All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference First Team, the GLIAC All-Tournament Team, NABC All-District First Team, and was on the Bevo Francis Top 50 Watch List.
Monroe led the Huskies and the GLIAC in scoring at 27.7 points per game, which was also second best in all of NCAA Division II. Monroe has tied or broken three Tech records this season, including the most points scored in a single season. Monroe eclipsed the single season scoring record with 45 points on February 28th at Wayne State in the GLIAC quarterfinals and added 15 in the tournament semifinals on March 3 versus Lake Superior State.
Monroe wrapped up the year with 803 points, establishing that total as the new single season school record. He also broke the mark for most consecutive free throw makes (40) and tied the school record for most points in a single game (50) at Saginaw Valley State on February 8th.
Monroe converted 51.4 percent of his total field goal attempts this season, found the target on 47.5 percent of his three-point shots, and 85.8 percent of his free throw opportunities. In addition to his scoring numbers, Monroe averaged 7.7 rebounds per game while dishing out 2.6 assists each time he took the floor. Monroe has scored 1,830 career points through the first three seasons of his collegiate career.
Freshman guard Isaac Appleby garnered both the Bob Olson Award which goes to the Outstanding Newcomer and the Scholastic Achievement Award. Appleby, a native of Eau Claire, Wisconsin who redshirted during the 2016-17 campaign, played in all 29 games and logged 24 starts for the Huskies this past season. He averaged 7.2 points per game and led the team in assists by dishing out 3.3 per contest. Appleby establish a career high points total of 20 against Northwood on December 2nd. He was also active on the glass by pulling down 3.4 rebounds each time he took the floor. Appleby is a General Engineering major and carries a 3.65 GPA.
Senior forward A.J. Grazulis was chosen as this year's recipient of the Harold Meese Sportsmanship Award. Grazulis, a native of Marquette, Michigan, helped anchor the post for the Huskies once again in 2017-18. He averaged 7.1 points per game and connected on over 58 percent of his field goal opportunities. He scored a career high 19 points in an 81-78 win over Wayne State at home on February 22nd. In addition, he secured 3.9 rebounds per game for Tech as a senior, playing in all 29 games with 28 starts. Grazulis earned Most Improve Player accolades following the 2016-17 season.
This year's Bill Gappy Award winner, which goes to the Most Improved Player, is sophomore forward Ryan Schuller. Schuller connected on 61.4 percent of his total field goals and scored a season high 10 points against NCAA Division II National Champion Ferris State in Houghton on February 15th. He averaged 3.2 points and 1.6 rebounds per game, seeing action in 27 contests during the 2017-18 campaign.
The Huskies finished the 2017-18 season with an overall record of 15-14 and advanced to the their 21st appearance in the GLIAC Tournament under Head Coach Kevin Luke. Tech reached the semifinals for the 17th time in 2017-18 and has three tournament titles during that stretch.