WICHITA, Kan. – Most Valuable Player,
Landry Shamet headlined the list of award winners, Wednesday evening at Wichita State's men's basketball postseason banquet.
Shamet becomes just the sixth freshman in 59 years to win the Wichita Eagle MVP Award, joining a list of previous MVP-winning frosh that includes Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston (co-winners in 1979), along with Jamie Arnold (1994), Jason Perez (1997) and Toure' Murry (2009).
Shamet averaged 11.4 points and ranked 14
th nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.00) on his way to First Team All-Missouri Valley Conference and MVC Freshman of the Year honors. The 6-foot-5 guard set a WSU freshman record with 72 three-pointers while shooting just under 44 percent from long range. He was the only WSU player to start all 36 games.
The full list of award winners, as voted by the Shocker coaching staff:
Warren Armstrong Jabali Assist Award: Landry Shamet
Xavier McDaniel Rebounding Award: Markis McDuffie
Shelley Cox/KAKE-TV Leadership Award: Zach Bush
Shafer Dart Most Inspirational Player: John Robert Simon
Cleo Littleton Most Improved: Rashard Kelly
Ralph Miller Captains Award: Shaquille Morris
Shocker Radio Outstanding Defensive Player: Zach Brown
Wichita Eagle Most Valuable Player: Landry Shamet
Complete History of Award Winners
After losing program pillars
Ron Baker and
Fred VanVleet to the NBA, Wichita State's so-called rebuilding year far exceeded expectations.
In 2016-17, the Shockers (31-5, 17-1 MVC)…
... Reached 30-wins for the fourth time in five years (most in college basketball).
... Captured their fourth-consecutive MVC regular season title.
... Won the MVC Tournament Championship for just the second time since 1987.
... Clinched a sixth-straight NCAA Tournament bid and advanced to the Round of 32 for a fifth-consecutive year.
Other team highlights:
- *A 16-game winning streak, which lasted over two months (Jan. 17- Mar. 19) and ranked as the second-longest in school history.
- *Points-a-plenty. The 2016-17 Shockers scored more of them than any team in school history (2,916), and their 81.0-point scoring average was the program's highest since the 1983 season. In all, WSU topped the 80-point mark in 23 different games, besting the 1979 team's school record of 22.
- *It was the year of the triple. WSU ranked eighth-nationally in long-range percentage (.403) and obliterated the school's season records for three-point makes (310) and three-pointers- per-game (8.6). In non-conference wins over Eastern Shore and South Dakota State, the Shockers twice tied the school's single-game record with 15 treys.
- *Lopsided victories. WSU won 27 of its 31 games by double-figures and set school records for most 20 and 30-point victories (17 and 9, respectively). The Shockers ranked second nationally in scoring margin for the year (+18.6), trailing only national runner-up Gonzaga.
- *More rebounding excellence. For the tenth-straight year, WSU led the MVC in rebound margin. The team's +9.0 margin also ranked second nationally, behind only national champion North Carolina.
- *For the fifth time in six years, WSU held opponents under 40 percent from the field. This year's .377 average was better than all but three teams in Division I.
