FOY/All-Freshmen Team

by **Birdfan2018** » January 25th, 2024, 9:57 am

Cooper Schwieger appears to be the front-runner for Freshman of the Year.
Who are the top candidates to be on the All-Freshmen team. Other than Cooper, the only other freshman I am aware of is Johnny Kinziger from Illinois State. From what I’ve seen of him I think he will be in the running.

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by **BCPanther** » January 25th, 2024, 9:59 am

Kyle Pock at UNI is now in the 20 minute a night range and on the floor at the end most nights. Have to think he gets a look. Kevin Overton starts and plays a bunch at Drake, I'd imagine he's there too.

by **bradley_townie** » January 25th, 2024, 10:28 am

Chuck Bailey III on UE is probably a lock for All-Freshmen team.

In any other year, Demarion Burch or Almar Atlason on Bradley would get some consideration but there are a lot of talented Freshmen in the league this year so those guys might be on the edge.

by **BuBrave2006** » January 25th, 2024, 10:29 am

Schwieger is definitely the frontrunner for FOY.

Overton is probably a lock for All Freshman team if he keeps doing what he is doing.

I think Chuck Bailey and Josh Hughes at Evansville have really good shots to be all freshman team as well.

If I had to pick now, the last spot will probably go to someone like Colby Garland (Drake), Johnny Kinzinger (ISU), Demarion Burch or Almar Atlason (Bradley).

Players like Kyle Pock (UNI), Nick Kramer (MSU), Brigham Rogers (Belmont), Kaspar Sepp or Jahari Williamson (Valpo) could have a chance if they come on strong but I think they would be longshots just due to stats and current role.

by **Adunk33** » January 25th, 2024, 12:13 pm

Johnny has really been showing improvement. He started the year playing really well and hit a bit of a wall. Fingers crossed he's on the other side. He's a top 4 guard on the team right now and taking minutes from Banks, Kasubke and Poindexter. On the year, he's averaging 6 points, 2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 19.9 min. But the last couple games he's averaged 29 min, 9 points, 6 boards, 2 assists, and 0.5 turns. The kid is a gamer, a winner and clearly has been pissed off during that 6 game skid. I look forward to his growth and hope coach keeps giving him the chance to get game experience. He's earned it.

I think if Chase Walker had been playing all year and not have his RS pulled a couple weeks ago at Belmont, he could be in the convo. In 5 games this year he's averaging 6.6 min, 2.4 points, and 2.2 boards (5 off, 6 def on the year). He looked really good at Mo State last weekend- 10 min, 6 points, 5 boards, and drew 5 fouls. He's got a long way to go but excited for his growth as well.

If you would've asked me at the beginning of the year, I would've had Ty Pence up there but it hasn't clicked for him yet. Johnny playing so well lately has enabled Pedon to shorten the rotation and it's been tough for him to get minutes.

by **DUBulldog** » January 25th, 2024, 2:07 pm

Overton is averaging 12.3 ppg as the #3 option on a good team. Not sure any freshman in the league is averaging more.

by **ColonialBulldog** » January 25th, 2024, 2:09 pm

I'm admittedly extremely biased and probably have watched the Valpo the least of any Valley team other than UIC. But Overton starts for Drake and scores a little bit more points than Schweiger. That's usually what wins these types of awards, right? A combination of most points and whether your team is at the top of the standings?

Again, I'm not tremendously familiar with Valpo and maybe I'm missing significant context for the role that Schweiger plays for the Beacons. He did have a nice game when Drake was in the Region. I can tell you that as a true freshman KO is actually one of the most trusted on-ball defenders for the Bulldogs while consistently knocking down shots at all three levels.

by **Birdfan2018** » January 25th, 2024, 5:52 pm

DUBulldog wrote:Overton is averaging 12.3 ppg as the #3 option on a good team. Not sure any freshman in the league is averaging more.

Schwieger:
12.44 PPG
7.11 RPG (Tied for 4th)
.857 FT% (Tied for 4th)
.531 FG% (7th)
1.0 BPG (9th)

Overton is not listed in any of the categories.

by **ColonialBulldog** » January 25th, 2024, 6:35 pm

Birdfan2018 wrote:
DUBulldog wrote:Overton is averaging 12.3 ppg as the #3 option on a good team. Not sure any freshman in the league is averaging more.

Schwieger:
12.44 PPG
7.11 RPG (Tied for 4th)
.857 FT% (Tied for 4th)
.531 FG% (7th)
1.0 BPG (9th)

Overton is not listed in any of the categories.

Where are you getting those numbers? Those are pretty off from what I'm seeing.

by **just ducky** » January 25th, 2024, 7:04 pm

ColonialBulldog wrote:
Birdfan2018 wrote:
DUBulldog wrote:Overton is averaging 12.3 ppg as the #3 option on a good team. Not sure any freshman in the league is averaging more.

Schwieger:
12.44 PPG
7.11 RPG (Tied for 4th)
.857 FT% (Tied for 4th)
.531 FG% (7th)
1.0 BPG (9th)

Overton is not listed in any of the categories.

Where are you getting those numbers? Those are pretty off from what I'm seeing.

Looks like the 9 game conference play only numbers. I did review both for everything and they are remarkably close. Today- for the whole season -----flip a coin but I suspect they will sort this out by their future play. Very hard to compare a stretch forward and a guard playing on a very bad team and a very good team.