Drake’s Bennett Stirtz has been named the MVC’s Larry Bird Trophy Winner. The Larry Bird Trophy, given to the MVC men’s basketball Player of the Year, is presented by Great Southern Bank. He’s just the third player in league history to earn the Larry Bird Trophy in his first season in the MVC. The others to earn Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year in the same season include Drake’s Lewis Lloyd (1980) and Drake’s Curt Smith (1993).
LARRY BIRD PLAYER OF THE YEAR Presented by Great Southern Bank: Bennett Stirtz, Drake
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Bennett Stirtz, Drake
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: All Wright, Valparaiso
DEFENSIVE MVP: Connor Turnbull, Evansville
SIXTH-MAN OF THE YEAR: Tavion Banks
STATE FARM MVC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Tytan Anderson, UNI
MOST IMPROVED TEAM CAPTAIN: Chase Walker, Illinois State
MVC COACH OF THE YEAR: Ben McCollum, Drake
Other Bulldogs to win the league’s Larry Bird trophy include Jeff Halliburton (1971), Lewis Lloyd (1980 and 1981), Curt Smith (1993), Adam Emmenecker (2008), and Tucker DeVries (2023, 2024) The league began honoring a Player of the Year for the first time in 1969. Voting was conducted by coaches, sports information directors and a media panel (voters could not vote for their own student-athlete.) Including this year, 0 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 20 juniors (eight of whom repeated) and 33 seniors have won the award (spanning 1969-2025).
Stirtz leads the MVC in scoring (18.93), assists (5.93) and steals (2.20). Only two others on record have done so in MVC history: Anthony Manuel of Bradley (1989), and Curt Smith of Drake (1993). Stirtz, who leads the nation in minutes per game, is the only player in the NCAA to lead his league in scoring, assists, and steals.
Head Coach Ben McCollum of Drake joins 21 other coaches to a win an MVC men’s basketball title in his first year in the league. He’s the 14th rookie coach to win the league’s Coach of the Year award, which was first presented in 1949. Fellow Bulldog rookie coaches Gary Garner (1982 ), Keno Davis (2008), and Darian DeVries (2019) also accomplished the feat. McCollum joins Davis (2008), Garner (1982), Rudy Washington (1993), Maury John (1964, 1968, 1969 and 1970), and DeVries (2019, 2021) as Drake coaches to earn the league’s top honor. With 27 wins, he’s among the most successful first-year league coaches – only Drake’s Davis (28 in 2008) and Indiana State’s Bill Hodges (33 in 1979) won more games in his first season in the MVC. Drake (27-3) is tied for the national lead in victories and is second in winning percentage (90.0) behind Auburn (93.1). Drake is the only team in the NCAA that has a perfect record (5-0) against the top two quadrants.
The league’s Defensive Player of the Year is Connor Turnbull of Evansville. Turnbull has recorded multiple blocks in 10 of the last 13 games and paces the MVC with his average of 1.87/game while his average in MVC games is even higher at 2.16 per contest. His total of 58 blocks ranks 25th in the country while his average of 1.87 is 30th. He’s just the second Purple Ace to win the league’s top defensive honor (Egidijus Mockevicius in 2016). The league began selecting a Defensive Player of the Year in 1989.
The league’s Freshman of the Year is All Wright of Valparaiso. Wright has scored 451 points this season, the 10th most by a freshman nationally and fourth-most by a mid-major freshman. On March 2 in the regular-season finale at UIC, Wright surpassed Lubos Barton’s freshman single-season Valpo record of 441 points. Wright ranks fifth in points by a Missouri Valley Conference freshman since the year 2000 behind Doug McDermott (Creighton, 581, 2010-11), AJ Green (UNI, 509, 2018-19), Tucker DeVries, Drake (502, 2021-22) and Loyola’s Milton Doyle (479, 2013-14). He’s the second-straight Valpo player to earn Freshman of the Year honors, following Cooper Schwieger last year. It marks the third time since the award began in 1986 that a school had back-to-back Freshman of the Year recipients (SIU in 1989 and 1990; and Wichita State in 2016 and 2017).
The MVC also selects a “Sixth Man Award” recipient, and this year’s winner is Tavion Banks of Drake. The honor is presented to the league’s top reserve player (one who has started fewer than 25 percent of his team’s games – in all games or in conference-only play). Banks has played in 29 games with one start. The junior averages 19.1 minutes per game off the bench, averaging 9.9 points and 4.7 rebounds, while shooting 52.2 percent. He has scored in double figures in 16 games and Drake is 16-0 when he scores in double figures. Banks scored a career-high 21 points at Southern Illinois. The only other Drake player to earn the Sixth Man of the Year award was Joseph Yesufu in 2021. The Conference began selecting that award in 1997.
In addition to the specialty awards, the Conference has announced its all-conference units (first-team, second-team, and third-team), all-newcomer team, all-freshman team, and all-defense team. The all-bench and most-improved units have been selected by the league’s beat writers were announced Tuesday (March 4), and the league’s Scholar-Athlete Team was announced Monday. A complete listing of all-conference honorees and previous season specialty award winners is attached.
| 2025 All-Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Team | |||
| First Team | Yr. | Pos. | Hometown |
| Tytan Anderson, UNI | Sr. | F | Eldridge, Iowa (North Scott High) |
| Duke Deen, Bradley | 5th | G | Shreveport, La. (Bossier High / Troy) |
| Jonathan Pierre, Belmont | Sr. | F | Hallandale, Fla. (Hallandale Magnet/Memphis/Nova Southeastern) |
| Bennett Stirtz, Drake | Jr. | G | Liberty, Mo. (Liberty High / Northwest Missouri State) |
| Samage Teel, Indiana State | Sr. | G | Greenville, N.C. (Farmville Central High / Presbyterian) |
| Chase Walker, Illinois State | So. | F | Columbus, Ohio (St. Charles High) |
| Second Team | Yr. | Pos. | Hometown |
| Tayshawn Comer, Evansville | Jr. | G | Indianapolis, Ind. (Cathedral High / Eastern Kentucky) |
| Kennard Davis Jr., S. Illinois | So. | G | St. Louis, Mo. (Vashon High) |
| Darius Hannah, Bradley | 5th | F | Milwaukee, Wis. (Academy of Science High) |
| Johnny Kinziger, Illinois State | So. | G | De Pere, Wis. (De Pere High) |
| Cooper Schwieger, Valparaiso | So. | F | Overland Park, Kan. (Blue Valley Southwest / Link Year) |
| Third Team | Yr. | Pos. | Hometown |
| Trey Campbell, UNI | Jr. | G | Cedar Falls, Iowa (Cedar Falls High) |
| Ali Dibba, Southern Illinois | Sr. | G | Stockholm, Sweden (Central Pointe Acad. / Abilene Christian) |
| Mitch Mascari, Drake | Gr. | G | Geneva, Ill. (Geneva High / Northwest Missouri State) |
| Zek Montgomery, Bradley | Sr. | G | Louisville, Ky. (St. Louis Christian Acad. / Rhode Island) |
| Carter Whitt, Belmont | Gr. | G | Raleigh, N.C. (Leesville Road High / Furman /Wake Forest) |
| All-Newcomer Team | Yr. | Pos. | Hometown |
| Tayshawn Comer, Evansville | Jr. | G | Indianapolis, Ind. (Cathedral High / Eastern Kentucky) |
| Jonathan Pierre, Belmont | Sr. | F | Hallandale, Fla. (Hallandale Magnet/Memphis/Nova Southeastern) |
| Bennett Stirtz, Drake | Jr. | G | Liberty, Mo. (Liberty High / Northwest Missouri State) |
| Samage Teel, Indiana State | Sr. | G | Greenville, N.C. (Farmville Central High / Presbyterian) |
| Carter Whitt, Belmont | Gr. | G | Raleigh, N.C. (Leesville Road High / Furman /Wake Forest) |
| All-Freshman Team | Pos. | Hometown | |
| Jack Daugherty, Illinois State | F | Brookfield, Wis. (Brookfield Central High) | |
| Jaquan Johnson, Bradley | G | Milwaukee, Wis. (Pius XI High) | |
| Sam Orme, Belmont | F | Carmel, Ind. (Carmel High) | |
| Gabriel Pozzato, Evansville | F | Italy (NBA Global Academy) | |
| All Wright, Valparaiso | G | Durango, Mexico (Link Year) | |
| All-Defensive Team | Yr. | Pos. | Hometown |
| Daniel Abreu, Drake | Gr. | F | Springfield, Mo. (Willard High / Northwest Missouri State) |
| Tytan Anderson, UNI | Sr. | F | Eldridge, Iowa (North Scott High) |
| Dalton Banks, Illinois State | Gr. | G | Eau Claire, Wis. (Eau Claire North / Southern Illinois) |
| Darius Hannah, Bradley | 5th | F | Milwaukee, Wis. (Academy of Science High) |
| Connor Turnbull, Evansville | Jr. | F | St. Paul, Mo. (Fort Zumwalt North / Butler) |
| All-Bench Team (selected by beat writers & panel) | |||
| *Tavion Banks, Drake | Jr. | G/F | Kansas City, Mo. (Minnesota Prep / NW Florida State College) |
| Jack Daugherty, Illinois State | Fr. | F | Brookfield, Wis. (Brookfield Central High) |
| Jaden Daughtry, Indiana State | So. | F | Richmond, Va. (Hargrave Military Academy) |
| Jaquan Johnson, Bradley | Fr. | G | Milwaukee, Wis. (Pius XI High) |
| Modestas Kancleris, UIC | R-Sr. | F | Kaunas, Lithuania (Varpas Gimnazija/CS-Bakersfield/Creighton) |
| Brody Peebles, Belmont | Gr. | G | Hartselle, Ala. (Hartselle High / Liberty) |
| Most-Improved Team (selected by beat writers & panel) | |||
| *Chase Walker, Illinois State | So. | F | Columbus, Ohio (St. Charles High) |
| Jaden Daughtry, Indiana State | So. | F | Richmond, Va. (Hargrave Military Academy) |
| Kennard Davis Jr., S. Illinois | So. | G | St. Louis, Mo. (Vashon High) |
| Cam Haffner, Evansville | Jr. | G | Westfield, Ind. (Eastern Illinois) |
| Cooper Schwieger, Valparaiso | So. | F | Overland Park, Kan. (Blue Valley Southwest / Link Year) |
| Isaiah Walker, Belmont | Jr. | G | Wyoming, Ohio (Wyoming High) |
| *denotes team “captain” as designated by the league’s beat writers and media panel | |||
