2017-18 MIAC MEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg University's Collin Olmscheid (SR, Buffalo, Minn.) was named the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Joe Hutton Men's Basketball Player of the Year, one of four Auggies to earn postseason honors from the MIAC on Tuesday.

Olmscheid earned All-MIAC first-team honors for the third straight year, after earning All-MIAC honorable mention and All-MIAC Rookie Team honors in 2014-15. Augsburg's Booker Coplin (SO, Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS) was named to the All-MIAC second team, and Harry Sonie (SR, Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley HS) was an All-MIAC third-team selection and also earned MIAC All-Defensive Team honors. Brent Kinder (JR, Forest Lake, Minn.) was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team. It's the first MIAC honors for Coplin, Sonie and Kinder.

It's the fifth time an Augsburg player has earned MIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year honors since the 1989-90 season. Devean George '99 earned the honor in both 1997-98 and 1998-99, Jeoffrey Reed '00 was named co-Player of the Year in 1999-2000, and Dan Kornbaum '14 earned the honor in 2013-14.

Augsburg is 21-7 overall under 13th-year head coach Aaron Griess. After finishing 13-7 in MIAC play, the Auggies went on to win the conference playoff championship for the first time in program history, coming from the No. 4 seed to win three games, including the final two on the road at Saint John's and Bethel. Augsburg is playing in the NCAA Division III national playoffs for the fourth time in program history, and will face Hope (Mich.) at Augustana (Ill.) on Friday (3/2) at 5:30 p.m.

The MIAC's scoring champion in 2017-18, Olmscheid has scored 574 points, averaging 20.5 points per-game -- the lone MIAC player to average 20.0 points or more in overall play. His 5.5 rebounds per-game average is 13th-best among MIAC players. Playing a league-high 33.1 minutes per-game this season, Olmscheid leads the MIAC in field goals made (211), while standing ninth in field-goal percentage (55.4), 10th in three-pointers (45), eighth in three-point percentage (45.0), first in free throws (107) and second in free-throw percentage (87.7).
 
Carrying a streak of 19 straight games with double-figure scoring into the NCAA tournament, Olmscheid has scored in double figures in 74 of his last 81 games, and in 90 of his 105 career contests. In Augsburg's three victories in the MIAC playoffs. Olmscheid averaged 24.7 points and 6.3 rebounds per-contest, both team highs, while shooting 63.0 percent (29-of-46) from the field and 73.3 percent (11-of-15) from the free-throw line.

Olmscheid has cemented himself in the Augsburg men's basketball record book. Playing in 105 career games (84 starts), he now stands fourth in school history in career scoring (1,848 points), with his 17.6 ppg career average seventh-best. Brian Ammann (1981-85) holds the Augsburg career scoring record with 2,271 points, followed by Devean George (1995-99) with 2,258 and Dan Anderson (1961-65) with 2,052.

Olmscheid stands fourth in Augsburg history in career field goals (678), tied for 10th in career field-goal percentage (.525), third in career three-pointers (168), sixth in career free throws (324), sixth in career free-throw percentage (.835) and eighth in career rebounds (632), with his 105 career games played tied for fifth-most in program history. With 632 career rebounds (6.0 rpg), Olmscheid is one of only five Auggies to ever have 1,000-plus career points and 600-plus career rebounds.

Coplin has been a key addition to the Augsburg lineup this season, after transferring from Wisconsin-River Falls. Starting 26 of 28 games, Coplin currently stands second on the team with a 13.4 ppg average (11th-best among MIAC players), while leading the team with a 6.3 rebounds per-game average, a total ninth-best among MIAC players. His 53 steals this season are tops in the MIAC, and his 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio is fourth-best. Last season, he started 10 games and played in 28 contests for a 25-4 Wisconsin-River Falls team that won the WIAC regular-season and playoff titles and reached the second round of the NCAA Division III national tourney, averaging 3.0 points and 2.0 rebounds in 14.1 minutes played per-game.

Sonie has been one of the key leaders for Augsburg throughout his career. After three years as a shooting guard, Sonie transitioned into the starting point guard role in his senior season. In 95 career games (68 starts), he has scored 737 points (7.8 ppg) with 272 rebounds (2.9 rpg), 284 assists and 106 steals. He stands fourth in school history in career assists and tied for seventh in career steals. He stands second among MIAC players in assists (119) and second in steals (50), with his 1.9 assist-to-turnover ratio 11th-best.

Kinder was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team, as part of the conference's sportsmanship initiative. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition. A forward, Kinder appeared in eight Augsburg varsity games this season and 17 games in his career.