2018-19 MIAC MEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS

MINNEAPOLIS -- For the second straight year, an Augsburg University player earned the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Joe Hutton Men's Basketball Player of the Year honors, as junior swingman Booker Coplin (JR, Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee HS) received the 2018-19 award, one of four Auggies to earn postseason honors from the MIAC on Tuesday.

Coplin was named to the six-player All-MIAC first team, after earning All-MIAC second team honors last season. He was also named to the five-player All-MIAC Defensive Team on a vote of conference coaches. Guard Matt Carik (SO, Rogers, Minn./Rogers HS) was named to the five-player All-MIAC third team, guard Kevin McKiernan (SR, Savage, Minn./Prior Lake HS) was named to the five-player All-MIAC Honorable Mention squad, and center Mark Della Vedova (SR, Inver Grove Heights, Minn./Simley HS) was named to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team. It's the first MIAC honors for Carik, McKiernan and Della Vedova.

It's the seventh time an Augsburg player has earned MIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year honors in program history. Brian Ammann '85 earned the honor in 1984-85, 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, Dan Kornbaum '14 earned the honor in 2013-14, and Collin Olmscheid '18 earned the honor last season.

The MIAC's scoring champion in 2018-19, Coplin had one of the best individual seasons for an Auggie in school history, setting Augsburg single-season school records for both points (784) and points per-game (28.0), breaking the old marks of 770 points and 27.5 points per-game, set by George in the 1998-99 season. Coplin's scoring and rebounding averages of 28.0 points and 9.4 rebounds per-game are the best combined totals for an Auggie since George's 27.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per-game averages in 1998-99. He also set a new single-season record for three-pointers with 76, breaking the old mark of 75 set by Scott Syring '93 in the 1989-90 season.

His exploits will show up in the school record-book in eight other top-10 single-season (since 1970) categories -- second in rebounds (264) and free-throw percentage (.897), third in steals (61), fourth in field goals (276), field-goal attempts (530) and free throws (156), fifth in rebounds per-game (9.4), and seventh in free-throw attempts (174). His 93 assists are 16th-most in a single season in program history.

He led the conference in scoring in both overall (28.0) and conference (27.4) play, while ranking second in rebounds per-game overall (9.4) and first in conference (9.2) games. His 61 steals led the MIAC in overall statistics, as did his 276  field goals, 154 free throws and 264 rebounds. He finished second among MIAC players in three-pointers (76), fourth in assists (93) and sixth in blocked shots (27), playing in a league-high 36.1 points per-game.

Among NCAA Division III players nationally (as of Feb. 24), Coplin currently ranks second in both total points and points per-game, while he leads the nation in field goals made and ranks third in field-goal attempts. His minutes played are fifth most in the country.

This season, Coplin scored in double figures in all 28 games, collecting 12 point-rebound double-doubles. He scored 20-plus points in 24 games and 30-plus points in 11 contests, including his last four games of the season where he scored 43, 33, 32 and a career-high 46 points. He also contributed one of the most dramatic shots in Augsburg history -- a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to give Augsburg a 67-64 first-round playoff win over St. Olaf on Feb. 19.
 
A transfer who played his first season at Wisconsin-River Falls, Coplin has shined in his two Auggie seasons, now standing 13th in school history with 1,167 points in an Auggie uniform (57 games, 55 starts). His 20.5 Augsburg points per-game career average is currently fourth-best in school history. His .884 free-throw percentage at Augsburg is currently tops in program history, while his 7.9 rebounds per-game average is 11th-best and his 117 three-pointers are 14th-most. He has 448 rebounds, 181 assists, 115 steals and 37 blocked shots as an Auggie.

Including his first year at UW-River Falls (85 games, 65 starts), Coplin now has scored 1,251 career points (14.7 per-game), with 505 rebounds (5.9 per-game), 131 three-pointers, 212 assists, 136 steals and 42 blocked shots.

Carik had a breakout season in 2018-19, setting a single-season school record (since 1988-89) for assists with 132, with the total and the 4.9 assists per-game average both second-best among MIAC players in overall statistics. He committed just 45 turnovers on the season, with his 2.9 assist-to-turnover ratio third-best in the MIAC and 15th-best nationally. Playing 34.2 minutes per-game (fifth-most in the MIAC) in his first year as a starter, Carik averaged 11.1 points per-game, while hitting 41 three-pointers and contributing 27 steals and 150 rebounds (5.6 per-game).

In his two seasons at Augsburg (56 games, 27 starts), Carik now has scored 442 points (7.9 per-game), with 56 three-pointers, 218 rebounds (3.9 per-game),169 assists  and 48 steals.

McKiernan became the 22nd Auggie to reach the 1,000-point scoring plateau this season, as he finished his career 15th in school history with 1,103 career points in 109 games (69 starts, 10.1 ppg). His 109 games played are the fourth-most played by an Auggie in school history, and his 193 career three-pointers are second-most in school history. He also finished his career with 334 rebounds (3.1 per-game), 236 assists (10th in school history) and 55 steals.

This season, McKiernan finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.5 points per-game. His 68 three-pointers (seventh in a single season in school history) were fifth-most among MIAC players. He played in 34.4 minutes per-game, third-most among MIAC players. He served as a team co-captain this season.

Della Vedova 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.

Della Vedova started 27 of 28 games this season at center, averaging 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds per-game. He played three seasons at Augsburg after starting his collegiate career at Sioux Falls (S.D.). In 54 games (27 starts) as an Auggie, he averaged 2.3 points and 2.0 rebounds per-game.

Under 14th-year head coach Aaron Griess, Augsburg finished 19-9 overall, 13-7 in MIAC play, earning an MIAC postseason playoff berth for the fourth straight season and ninth time in the last 11 years. For the second straight year, Augsburg advanced from the No. 4 playoff seed to the conference playoff championship game. It's the ninth time in the last 11 years that Augsburg has recorded 15 or more victories in a season.