ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) announced the recipients of their 2024-25 men’s basketball awards on Tuesday. The awards are nominated and voted on by the UMAC men’s basketball head coaches.
Pal Dak of the University of Minnesota Morris Cougars was named both the Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Against conference opponents, Dak averaged 20.4 points per game on 47.4% from the field while shooting 42.0% from three-point range. He also averaged 6.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game. In 14 games, Dak led the UMAC in both total minutes played with 476 and in average minutes per game with 34.0.
Adam Loberger of the Martin Luther College Knights was named the Rookie of the Year. The freshman averaged 18.4 points per game on 34.9% from the floor while shooting 33.6% from beyond the arc. Loberger also averaged 6.4 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
Minnesota Morris head coach Paul Grove was named the Coach of the Year. Grove led the Cougars in his 23
rd season after being diagnosed with kidney cancer and undergoing surgery this past November just as the season was starting.
Now cancer-free, Grove returned to lead Minnesota Morris, who had been picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll, to win a share of the UMAC Regular Season Championship with a 10-4 record; the first in Cougars men's basketball history.
The Martin Luther Knights won the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Pal Dak (Minnesota Morris)
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Pal Dak (Minnesota Morris)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Adam Loberger (Martin Luther)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Paul Grove (Minnesota Morris)
TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP
Martin Luther Knights
FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Tyrus Buckner (Crown)
Pal Dak (Minnesota Morris)
Carrington McNeal (North Central)
Japheth Nyamari (Northwestern)
Drew Sagedahl (Bethany Lutheran)
SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Dom Aguilar (Minnesota Morris)
Reid Johnson (UW-Superior)
Jax Madson (Bethany Lutheran)
Malik Siggers (North Central)
J’Vaun Walker (UW-Superior)
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTIONS
Dominik Bangu (Bethany Lutheran)
AJ Greene (Northwestern)
John Grigsby (Crown)
Tanner Holtman (North Central)
Adam Loberger (Martin Luther)
Carmello McNeal (North Central)
Remy Wedgeworth-Brown (North Central)
DEFENSIVE ALL-CONFERENCE
Pal Dak (Minnesota Morris)
Carrington McNeal (North Central)
Benjamin Pearson (Martin Luther)
Cameron Thomas (North Central)
J’Vaun Walker (UW-Superior)
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP
Steven Colon (North Central)
Ian Fahje (Minnesota Morris)
Luke Fehrenbacher (UW-Superior)
Stephen Kesti (Northland)
Winston Knox (Bethany Lutheran)
Jacob Van Dam (Crown)
Seth Veers (Martin Luther)
Kelton Vincent (Northwestern)
The UMAC is an NCAA Division III member comprised of eight full-time member schools from Minnesota and Wisconsin: Bethany Lutheran College, Crown College, Martin Luther College, North Central University, Northland College, University of Minnesota Morris, University of Northwestern, and University of Wisconsin-Superior.
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