SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Summit League) – Oral Roberts sophomore Max Abmas was named The Summit League Men’s Basketball Player of the Year Thursday as league officials announced six individual awards, the all-league honorees and the all-newcomer team.
Abmas becomes the first Golden Eagle since Dominique Morrison in 2011-12 to claim the league’s top individual award that was voted on by the league’s nine head coaches, athletic communication directors and select media members. All of these accolades are based on the player’s performance in Summit League action.
The Rockwall, Texas native averaged a league-high 27.2 ppg in 15 league contests, which was the highest scoring average since the 2016-17 season when former South Dakota State standout Mike Daum averaged 27.5 ppg and was the last sophomore to capture POY honors.
A year after landing a spot on the all-newcomer team, Abmas would score 30-plus points in six league contests and enters postseason play as the nation’s overall leading scorer (24.7 ppg) and only Division I player to score 40-plus points twice in a game. He also ranks among the top five nationally in total 3-pointers made (87; 3rd), 3-point field goals per game (4.0; 3rd) and 3-point field goal percentage (45.5; 5th).
South Dakota was the only program to claim two of the individual honors as sophomore A.J. Plitzuweit was named the Newcomer of the Year and Todd Lee claimed Coach of the Year honors. Plitzuweit was the second-highest scorer in league play, averaging 21.4 ppg for a Coyotes squad that went 11-4 in league play and will be the No. 2 seed at the upcoming Summit League Men’s Basketball Tournament. The Vermillion native also ranked third in assists (3.9/g) and was the top free-throw shooter, sinking 76-of-79 attempts in league play (96.2 percent).
Lee’s third South Dakota squad opened league play with nine-straight wins and had an overall win streak of 10 games, which was the longest of his tenure with the Coyotes.
Kansas City senior Brandon McKissic earned Defensive Player of the Year honors and was a key cog on The Summit League’s top defensive scoring unit as the Roos only yielded 62.4 ppg. McKissic topped the steals chart in league play, swiping 23 total for an average of 2.1 per game.
North Dakota State freshman Grant Nelson was named the Sixth Man of the Year. The 6-foot-10 forward averaged 7.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg and was second in the league in blocks, swatting away 2.1 shots per game.
North Dakota point guard Tyree Ihenacho garnered the Freshman of the Year accolade after averaging 9.6 ppg and 5.9 rpg while ranking in the top five in the league in assists (4.3/g; 2nd) and steal (1.5/g; t3rd). The Prior Lake, Minn., native started 13 of 14 league games he appeared in.
Abmas, Plitzuweit and South Dakota State’s Baylor Scheierman formed a sophomore trio that made up half of the All-League First Team.
Scheierman started all 12 league games for the regular-season champion Jackrabbits, averaging 15.1 ppg and ranking second in rebounding (9.4/g; 2nd) and leading all players in assists (4.7/g; 1st). He also had seven double-doubles in those dozen contests.
Those three second-year players were joined by North Dakota State’s Rocky Kreuser, Oral Roberts’ Kevin Obanor and South Dakota’s Stanley Umude.
Kreuser averaged 15.8 ppg and ranked fifth in the league in rebounding (7.4/g) for the reigning tournament champion Bison. The White Bear Lake, Minn., native was third among league players with five double-doubles and scored a career-high 32 points in a road tilt at rival North Dakota.
Obanor gave the Golden Eagles a pair of first-team selections for the first time since 2009. The Houston, Texas native was the only league player to average a double-double (19.0 ppg/10.5 rpg) while also shooting better than 50 percent from the floor and 3-point range and knocking down 90 percent of his free throws.
Umude is the only three-time honoree on the list as he was a second-team performer as junior in 2020 and a first-team performer as a sophomore in 2019. He ranks 10th nationally in scoring at 21.4 ppg and scored at a 20.9 ppg clip in league play (3rd overall). He had seven 20-plus point games and three 30-plus point games in league play and added a career-high 41-point outing vs. SDSU in a non-conference tilt in December.
Reigning Player of the Year Douglas Wilson headlined the second team and was joined on that squad by McKissic, North Dakota State’s Sam Griesel, North Dakota’s Filip Rebraca and Western Illinois grad transfer Will Carius.
Wilson battled injuries early in the season, but was able to start all 12 league contests, averaging 16.8 ppg and 4.9 rpg. The Waterloo, Iowa native posted six 20-plus point scoring games.
Griesel moved into the point guard role for the Bison this season and averaged 12.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg and 2.6 apg. He capped the regular season with a career-high 27-point outing at South Dakota.
Rebraca topped the Fighting Hawks in scoring (17.3 ppg; 7th) and rebounding (8.2 rpg; 4th) and reached double figures in all 25 of UND’s games this season.
Carius led the Leathernecks in scoring during his first season as a Leatherneck. He’s played at all three of the NCAA college basketball levels. He made 35 total 3-pointers in league play, shooting better than 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Plitzuweit, Ihenacho, Nelson and Carius each landed on the all-newcomer team along with Oral Roberts’ grad transfer RJ Glasper. The former DII standout at Arkansas Tech averaged 12.3 ppg in 10 league contests before an injury derailed his season.
Omaha senior Pile garnered honorable mention all-league honors for the second straight season and was joined in that distinction by Kansas City’s Josiah Allick, South Dakota’s Xavier Fuller, Maverick teammate Marlon Ruffin and Denver’s Jase Townsend.
Eight of the league’s nine teams will embark on Sioux Falls this weekend for The Summit League Men’s Basketball Championship. The action starts Saturday at 5:45 p.m. CT when top-seeded South Dakota State takes on No. 8 Omaha at the Sanford Pentagon. All quarterfinal and semifinals games will be televised by MidcoSN and streamed digitally on Midco Sports Plus and ESPN+. Tuesday’s title game will air on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. CT and be streamed on the Watch ESPN app.
2021 Summit League Men’s Basketball Awards
First Team
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts (So., G)
Rocky Kreuser, North Dakota State (Sr., F)
Kevin Obanor, Oral Roberts (Jr., F)
A.J. Plitzuweit, South Dakota (So., G)
Baylor Scheierman, South Dakota State (So., G)
Stanley Umude, South Dakota (Sr. G)***
Second Team
Will Carius, Western Illinois (Gr., F)
Sam Griesel, North Dakota State (Jr., G)
Brandon McKIssic, Kansas City (Sr., G)
Filip Rebraca, North Dakota (Jr., F)**
Douglas Wilson, South Dakota State (Sr., F)**
Honorable Mention
Josiah Allick, Kansas City (So., F)
Xavier Fuller, South Dakota (Jr., F)
Matt Pile, Omaha (Sr., F)**
Marlon Ruffin, Omaha (Jr., F)
Jase Townsend, Denver (Jr., G)**
All-Newcomer Team
Will Carius, Western Illinois (Gr., F)
RJ Glasper, Oral Roberts (Gr., G)
Tyree Ihenacho, North Dakota (Fr., G)
Grant Nelson, North Dakota State (Fr., F)
A.J. Plitzuweit, South Dakota (So., G)
^Player of the year automatically earns a spot on the first team
*Career of All-League honors
Player of the Year
Max Abmas, Oral Roberts
Defensive Player of the Year
Brandon McKissic, Kansas City
Sixth Man of the Year
Grant Nelson, North Dakota State
Freshman of the Year
Tyree Ihenacho, North Dakota
Newcomer of the Year
A.J. Plitzuweit, South Dakota
Coach of the Year
Todd Lee, South Dakota
