MANHATTAN, Kan. – Senior guard Wesley Iwundu captured three team awards, including a repeat of his Rolando Blackman Most Valuable Player honors, as Kansas State held its annual men’s basketball banquet Monday night at the Hilton Garden Inn.
In addition to his MVP award, Iwundu was selected as the Tex Winter Top Offensive Player and shared the Ed Nealy Most Improved Player with fellow senior D.J. Johnson.
An All-Big 12 Third Team selection for the second consecutive season, Iwundu led the Wildcats in 15 categories, including scoring (13.0 ppg.), double-digit scoring games (26), field goals made (151), free throws made (122), free throw percentage (76.7), double-doubles (5) and rebounding (6.3 rpg.). The first Wildcat in school history to record 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, 300 assists and 100 steals in a career, he joined Mitch Richmond (1987-88) as the only players in school history to tally 400+ points, 200+ rebounds, and 100+ assists in a single season.
Johnson also picked up the Ernie Barrett Play Hard Award, which goes annually to the single-season leader on the Wayne McClain Play Hard Chart and tracks deflections/blocks, steals, dives, loose balls, offensive rebounds and charges. An All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, Johnson became the first Wildcat to lead the Big 12 in field goal percentage (62.3) to go with averages of 11.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He finished as the career leader in field goal percentage at 59.5 percent.
Fellow seniors Austin Budke, Carlbe Ervin II and Zach Winter also picked up one award each.
Budke earned the Keith Amerson Academic Award for the second consecutive season after being selected to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team and to the College Sports Information Director of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District 7 First Team. He was also the only men’s basketball player in the Big 12 to be selected for the Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, which is the league’s highest academic honor.
Ervin won the Porky Morgan Most Inspirational Player Award, which is the program’s oldest award and honors the longtime K-State Athletics Trainer from 1950-80. A key reserve who saw action in all 35 games, Ervin connected on 48.5 percent from the field, including 39.1 percent from 3-point range, and hit on 72 percent from the free throw line. He averaged 2.7 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
Winter was selected for the Fort Riley Never Broken Award, which is given annually to commemorate the partnership with the 1stBattalion, 7th Field Artillery unit stationed at Fort Riley. One of five players named to the Academic All-Big 12 team, he was named to the First Team along with Budke, Iwundu and fellow walk-on Mason Schoen. He saw action in 29 career games, including 15 in 2016-17.
Other award winners included Barry Brown (Jack Hartman Top Defensive Player), Xavier Sneed (Dean Harris Newcomer of the Year), Kamau Stokes (Bob Boozer Courage Award) and Dean Wade (Mitch Richmond Mr. Basketball).
Given annually to the team’s top defensive player, Brown was routinely assigned to the opponent’s top offensive threat. He set the school’s single-season record for steals with 82 in 2016-17, ranking seventh nationally in total steals and 11th in steals per game. He also ranked second in the Big 12 in steals, including a league-best 45 in conference-only play. Overall, he ranked among the Top 5 on the team in 20 categories.
The team’s top reserve, Sneed, was selected as the Dean Harris Newcomer of the Year, which honors the late East St. Louis, Illinois, native, who tragically died in 1974. The freshman, also from St. Louis, led all reserves at 18.3 minutes per game, while averaging 7.1 points on 42.9 percent shooting, including 33.9 percent from 3-point range. He ranked among the Top 5 in 7 categories, while scoring in double figures on 12 occasions.
Stokes was chosen for the Bob Boozer Courage Award for the second consecutive season after rebounding from a season-ending injury as a freshman to become one of the team’s performers. He ranked among the Top 5 on the team in 21 categories, including placing first in 3-point field goals made (64), assists (4.1 apg.), starts (35) and minutes played (1,165). He also ranked second in scoring (11.7 ppg.) and double-digit scoring games (25), while he dished out the eighth-most assists (145) in a single season and most since 2012-13.
Wade earned the Mitch Richmond Mr. Basketball Award after ranking among the team leaders in 23 categories, including first in 20-point games (3) and starts (35) and second in 3-point field goal percentage (40.2) and blocked shots (0.7 bpg.). He scored in double figures in 17 games, including 11 times in Big 12 play, while posting a career-tying 20 points twice against Kansas and in a huge road win at TCU on March 1.
2016-17 Kansas State Men’s Basketball Team Awards:
Fort Riley Never Broken Award: Zach Winter
Ernie Barrett Play Hard Award: D.J. Johnson
Keith Amerson Academic Award: Austin Budke
Dean Harris Newcomer of the Year Award: Xavier Sneed
Bob Boozer Courage Award: Kamau Stokes
Porky Morgan Most Inspirational Award: Carlbe Ervin II
Ed Nealy Most Improved Award: D.J. Johnson/Wesley Iwundu
Jack Hartman Top Defensive Player Award: Barry Brown
Tex Winter Top Offensive Player Award: Wesley Iwundu
Mitch Richmond Mr. Basketball Award: Dean Wade
Rolando Blackman Most Valuable Player Award: Wesley Iwundu
–www.k-statesports.com–
TOM GILBERT
Associate Director for Athletics Communications | K-State Athletics