By Bryan Bloodworth
BLOOMINGTON – For the second time in his career, Wichita State’s Fred VanVleet has earned the Missouri Valley Conference Larry Bird Player of the Year award.
The senior from Rockford is one of only three players in MVC history to reach 600 career assists and 200 career steals. He also is one of just nine players in league history to win the Larry Bird Trophy twice, winning the award in 2014 and finishing third in last year’s balloting.
VanVleet received 100.5 total points to outdistance Evansville’s Egidijus Mockevicius, who finished second with 68 total points. This marks the third-straight season that Wichita State has had two of the top three in the balloting.
Wichita State’s Ron was third in the voting that was conducted by coaches, sports information directors and a media panel. Voters could not vote for their own student-athlete.
Other specialty awards went to Mockevicius as the Defensive Player of the Year; Wichita State’s Markis McDuffie as the Freshman of the Year; Missouri State’s Dequon Miller as the Newcomer of the Year; and Evansville’s Mislay Brzoja as the top Sixth Man.
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at lefty@wjbc.comhttp://lefty@wjbc.com
