Misplaced Pages

Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Awarded for	the most outstanding basketball player in the Missouri Valley Conference
Country	United States
History
First award	1969
Most recent	Tucker DeVries, Drake

The Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual award given to the Missouri Valley Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1968–69 season. It was renamed to honor Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Bird, who played at Indiana State from 1977 to 1979 and led the Sycamores to the 1979 NCAA Championship game. Bird won every major player of the year award (including the Naismith and Wooden awards) in 1979.

Creighton and Drake have the most all-time winners with seven, but Creighton left the conference in July 2013 to join the reconfigured Big East Conference. Four current conference members have not had a winner, but three of them (Belmont, Murray State, and UIC) played their first MVC seasons in 2022–23, and the other (Valparaiso) played its first MVC season in 2017–18.

There have never been any ties for the player of the year, but there have been 10 repeat winners in the award's history. Of the repeat winners, Fred VanVleet of Wichita State (2014 and 2016) and A. J. Green of Northern Iowa (2020, 2022) won in non-consecutive years.

Key

Winners

Winners by school

1. Creighton University left in 2013 to join the Big East Conference.
2. Wichita State University left in 2017 to join the American Athletic Conference (The American).
3. Loyola University Chicago left in 2022 to join the Atlantic 10 Conference.
4. The University of Tulsa left in 1996 to join the Western Athletic Conference, and is now in The American.
5. The University of Louisville left in 1975 to become a founding member of the Metro Conference, and is now in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
6. The University of Memphis left in 1973 and briefly went independent before becoming a founding member of the Metro Conference. The school is now in The American.
7. The University of Cincinnati left in 1970 to go independent, and is now in the Big 12 Conference.

References

1. "'Bingo' Smith named MVC's top player". Johnson City Press. Johnson City, Tennessee. March 25, 1969. p. 8. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Jim Ard, Player Of Year In MVC". Lexington Herald-Leader. Lexington, Kentucky. March 10, 1970. p. 9. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Drake's Halliburton top Valley player". Columbus Telegram. Columbus, Nebraska. March 17, 1971. p. 18. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Finch Named Player of Year". Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. March 16, 1972. p. 24. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Larry Kenon Wins Another Big Honor". Memphis Press-Scimitar. Memphis, Tennessee. March 14, 1973. p. 39. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Louisville's Bridgeman – MVC's Best". Des Moines Tribune. Des Moines, Iowa. March 8, 1974. p. 20. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Bridgeman MVC Player of Year". The Times. Munster, Indiana. March 19, 1975. p. 50. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Saluki is top MVC player". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. March 30, 1976. p. 45. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Roger Phegley Named Missouri Valley Player Of The Year". Taylorville Daily Breeze-Courier. Taylorville, Illinois. March 9, 1977. p. 10. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "'Birdman' Is Valley's Player Of The Year". Vincennes Sun-Commercial. Vincennes, Indiana. March 2, 1978. p. 16. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Drake coach stresses excellence in Neenah". Oshkosh Northwestern. Oshkosh, Wisconsin. March 28, 1979. p. 4. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Lloyd snares three Drake cage honors". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. March 31, 1980. p. 20. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Lloyd heads MVC picks". El Paso Times. El Paso, Texas. March 10, 1981. p. 7. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
14. ^ "Men's Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Winners". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2024. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
15. "WSU's Sherrod Invited to Olympic Tryouts". The Wichita Eagle. Wichita, Kansas. April 4, 1984. p. 13. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
16. "McDaniel named Player of the Year". The Pantagraph. Bloomington–Normal. March 14, 1985. p. 15. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
17. Thomas, Jim (March 15, 1986). "Bradley Standout Les Is Peoria's 'Springsteen'". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. p. 13. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
18. "Hawkins named MVC player of year". The Pantagraph. Bloomington–Normal. March 2, 1987. p. 28. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
19. "Bradley's Hawkins named MVC Player of the Year". Courier Journal. Louisville, Kentucky. March 4, 1988. p. 65. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
20. "Bradley guard named MVC Player of Year". Belleville News-Democrat. Belleville, Illinois. March 3, 1989. p. 38. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
21. Sinclair, Steve (March 2, 1990). "Harstad: I'd Trade Honor For Three Tourney Wins". Omaha World-Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. p. 37. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
22. Dorr, Dave (March 5, 1991). "MVC Title On Line For Kiel's Final Bow". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. p. 24. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
23. "Amaya tops Valley honor squad; Turner on 2nd team". The Courier. Waterloo, Iowa. March 5, 1992. p. 13. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
24. Thomas, Jim (March 3, 1993). "Little Man Beats Big Man For MVC Player Of Year". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. p. 15. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
25. Tramel, Jimmie (March 2, 1994). "Collier, Dawkins, Seals Sweep MVC Honors". Tulsa World. Tulsa, Oklahoma. p. 29. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
26. Thomas, Jim (March 1, 1995). "Salukis Get Good Mileage From MVC Player Of Year". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. p. 17. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
27. Kindred, Randy (March 2, 1996). "Bradley expects first-round foe Drake to have added incentive". The Pantagraph. Bloomington–Normal. p. 8. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
28. "Players to watch: G Jason Daisy". Springfield News-Leader. Springfield, Missouri. March 1, 1997. p. 24. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
29. "Conference Tournaments: Missouri Valley". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. March 1, 1998. p. 47. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
30. Dutton, Bob (March 12, 1999). "Numbers adding up for Evansville guard". The Kansas City Star. Kansas City, Missouri. p. 40. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
31. "Nate Green named MVC player of year". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, Iowa. March 1, 2000. p. 19. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
32. "Missouri Valley Conference capsules: Illinois State". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. March 2, 2001. p. 37. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
33. ^ Pivovar, Steven (March 4, 2003). "Korver back as Valley's best". Omaha World-Herald. Omaha, Nebraska. p. 17. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
34. ^ Knapp, Adam (March 2, 2005). "Brooks again gets Valley double". The Wichita Eagle. Wichita, Kansas. p. 35. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
35. Beard, Aaron (March 19, 2006). "Shockers indeed: Wichita State topples No. 2-seed Tennessee". Lansing State Journal. Lansing, Michigan. p. 31. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
36. Bannon, Terry (March 21, 2007). "Singing praises of music man". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. pp. 4–8. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
37. "College log book". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. March 16, 2008. p. 29. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
38. "Creighton's Woodfox named MVC player of the year". Kearney Hub. Kearney, Nebraska. March 4, 2009. p. 19. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
39. Beaton, Kelly (March 3, 2010). "Koch tabbed top player in Valley". Globe Gazette. Mason City, Iowa. p. 11. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
40. Coats, Bill (March 2, 2011). "Weems honored". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. p. C002. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
41. ^ "McDermott named MVC player of the year again". Kearney Hub. Kearney, Nebraska. March 6, 2013. p. 12. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
42. Tigges, Carson (March 5, 2014). "Tuttle cracks all-MVC first team". The Courier. Waterloo, Iowa. p. B3. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
43. Davis, Jeremiah (March 5, 2015). "UNI's Tuttle strives, achieves". The Gazette. Cedar Rapids, Iowa. p. M5. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
44. "All-Missouri Valley Conference". Muscatine Journal. Muscatine, Iowa. March 2, 2016. p. A20. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
45. Benson, Jim (March 1, 2017). "1 for Lee... 1 for Mom?". The Pantagraph. Bloomington–Normal. p. B1. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
46. "Missouri Valley Conference Tournament: 1. Loyola (25–5, 15–3)". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. March 1, 2018. p. B04. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
47. "All-Missouri Valley". Quad-City Times. Davenport, Iowa. March 6, 2019. p. B5. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
48. Petaros, Nick (March 4, 2020). "A.J. Green named MVC Player of the Year". Sioux City Journal. Sioux City, Iowa. p. B5. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
49. Hammond, Sean (March 3, 2021). "Loyola's Krutwig is MVC player of year". Northwest Herald. Crystal Lake, Illinois. p. A21. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
50. Dent, Bucky (March 6, 2022). "Loyola advances past UNI at MVC tourney". The Southern Illinoisan. Carbondale, Illinois. p. A6. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
51. "DeVries top player". The Pantagraph. Bloomington–Normal. March 3, 2023. p. B2. Retrieved February 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
52. Raby, John (March 29, 2024). "Drake star DeVries transferring to WVU". Muscatine Journal. Muscatine, Iowa. p. B1. Retrieved June 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.

• NCAA Division I men's basketball conference players of the year
• Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball
• Awards established in 1969