Monmouth College men’s basketball player Zay Brown (Peoria, Illinois) was named Midwest Conference Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year on Thursday while also making the MWC First-Team. Head coach Todd Skrivseth was named MWC Coach of the Year as the Fighting Scots swept the major awards after winning the regular season title at 20-5.
Brown joins Will Carius (2018-19) as the second Monmouth player to win both awards in the same season. He is the fourth Monmouth player to win MWC Player of the Year alongside Carius, Lance Castle (1993-94 & 1994-95) and Will Jones (2017-18). Brown joins David Williams (2022-23) as MWC Newcomer of the Year winners.
This is the second Midwest Conference Coach of the Year award for Skrivseth. He also claimed the award in 2017-18 when the Scots won 20 games, hosted the MWC Tournament and went to the NCAA Tournament as MWC Champions. Skrivseth won his 150th career game at Ripon on Feb. 15 and has the third-most wins in Monmouth history. Terry Glasgow also won two MWC Coach of the Year awards, claiming the honor in 1994-95 and 1997-98. Both Coach of the Year and Player of the Year awards began in 1993-94.
Brown scored 27 points in his first collegiate game and never slowed down. He finished the season as the MWC leader in rebounds (9.1) and blocks (1.3) while ranking 3rd in FG% (53.7) and 5th in scoring (18.0). Brown has scored at least 10 points in all but three games this season, including 10 straight to finish the regular season. He’s grabbed at least eight rebounds in 11 straight games and has seven double-doubles on the season.
Brown’s 450 points ranks 14th on the single-season scoring list and his 227 rebounds rank 12th. Both are all-time highs for Monmouth freshmen and his 33 blocks are tied for 10th on the single-season list. Brown has 22 double-digit scoring games which ranks tied for ninth on the Monmouth single-season list. He has 10 games with at least 20 points and two with 31. He posted a season-high 20 rebounds against Principia on Dec. 13, five blocks against Knox on Feb. 11 and six assists in both games against Grinnell.
Brown and the Fighting Scots enter the Midwest Conference Tournament on a 10-game win streak and with a school-record tying 20 wins on the season. The Scots host Lake Forest at 7 p.m. on Friday in the second semifinal. Illinois College and Grinnell play at 5 p.m. and Friday’s winners meet in the MWC Championship at 3 p.m. Saturday.
***Courtesy of Nathan Baliva, Monmouth College***
