MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg University men's basketball guard JJ Semanko (FY, New Hope, Minn./Hopkins HS) was named to the D3hoops.com Region 9 Rookie of the Year and earned All-Region 9 Team honors as a second-team selection, it was announced on Monday.

The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men's basketball Rookie of the Year and an All-MIAC selection this season, Semanko is the 10th Auggie men's basketball player to earn All-Region honors since the 2004-05 season, and the first since the 2021-22 campaign. He is the second Auggie to earn D3hoops.com Region Rookie of the Year honors, joining Brett Rasmussen, who earned the West Region honor in 2012-13. The D3hoops.com all-region teams are nominated by sports information directors in the region and selected by a group of SIDs by D3hoops.com, a national website covering NCAA Division III basketball. Three teams of five players each were selected for Region 9, which includes schools in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois.

Semanko had an incredible collegiate debut season, leading the Auggies in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per-game. He also contributed a team-leading 67 assists, adding 34 steals and 14 blocked shots. Playing a team-leading 30.9 minutes per-game, Semanko connected on 48.4 percent of his field-goal attempts (154-of-318), 34.0 percent of his three-point attempts (32-of-94) and 80.1 percent of his free-throw attempts (141-of-176).

Semanko's 17.8 points per-game average ranks sixth among MIAC players in overall statistics, with his 8.6 rebounds per-game average third-best and his 2.5 assists per-game average tied for 13th. He scored in double figures in 24 of his 27 games, with eight point-rebound double-doubles and 10 games with 20 or more points, including his two conference playoff games -- 25 points with nine rebounds in the Auggies' 69-68 win at St. Olaf on Feb. 24, and 23 points and 12 rebounds in the Auggies' 84-68 loss at Gustavus on Feb. 26.

Under 21st-year head coach Aaron Griess, Augsburg finished 17-10 overall and 9-7 in MIAC play in 2025-26, earning a spot in the MIAC playoffs for the 11th time in the last 13 full seasons.