WICHITA, Kan. – Wichita State seniors Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet were named first team All-Missouri Valley Conference for the third-straight year, highlighting a strong Shocker showing on the league's postseason honor roll.
 
Baker and VanVleet were also named to the MVC's All-Defensive team, and teammates Anton Grady and Markis McDuffie landed All-Newcomer status. In addition, McDuffie doubled up with a spot on the All-Freshman squad.
 
The MVC will release its specialty award winners Tuesday afternoon with All-Bench and Most-Improved teams to follow on Wednesday. Scholar-Athlete and Coach of the Year winners are announced on Thursday.
 
WSU (23-7, 16-2 MVC) won the regular season race by a full four games. Baker and VanVleet became the first Shockers in over three decades – and the first WSU teammates - to make the Valley's top team three years in a row. Xavier McDaniel (1983, 84, 85) was the last.
 
In Gregg Marshall's nine seasons in Wichita, WSU has claimed All-MVC honors 19 times. That includes 12 first-teamers since 2010, equaling the program's total from the previous 28 years combined).
 
Baker -- a 6-foot-4 guard from Scott City, Kan. – averaged a team-high 13.9 points and finished on the conference leaderboard in nearly every category, including scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and blocks.
 
VanVleet – a 6-0 point guard from Rockford, Ill. – led the league in both assists (6.4) and steals (1.8) during conference play.
 
VanVleet was named to the All-Defensive team for the third time in his career, joining Jamar Howard (4x, 2002, '03, '04, '05) and P.J. Couisnard (3x: 2006, '07, '08) on the list of Shockers with three-or-more appearances.
 
Baker earned All-Defensive status for the first time after leading the Shockers in total steals (49).
 
WSU landed multiple players on the All-Defensive team for the third-straight year and have had a league-best eight selections over the last five years.
 
The Shockers led the Valley in most every defensive metric this season, holding conference foes to 56.9 points and a .359 field goal percentage. They pinned 14 of their 18 MVC opponents under 40-percent this year.
 
Grady – a 6-8 redshirt senior from Cleveland, Ohio – transferred to WSU for his final season of eligibility from Cleveland State. After an injury-plagued non-conference season, Grady (7.8 points, 4.5 rebounds) has come on strong in the month of February, averaging in double-figures off the bench during WSU's recent five-game winning streak.
 
McDuffie – a 6-8 freshman from Paterson, N.J. – has been a major offensive and defensive weapon off the bench for the Shockers, averaging 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 17.8 minutes per game. At just shy of 18 years, 6 months, he's the youngest player in the MVC.
 
While WSU's talented JUCO pipeline has given it plenty of representation over the years on the All-Newcomer teams, McDuffie is one of only two Shocker freshman in the last two decades to be included on the list (Toure' Murry also did it in 2009).
 
McDuffie is also just eighth Shocker to make the All-Freshman team (now in its 18th year). Shaquille Morris was a member of last year's team. Five of the six previous WSU players to make the All-Freshman squad went on to win all-conference honors during their careers and four of them were first-teamers (Jamar Howard, 2002; Paul Miller, 2003; J.T. Durley, 2008; and Toure' Murry, 2009).
 
First team all-conference selections and specialty award winners will be recognized at Thursday pre-tournament luncheon in St. Louis.
  

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2016 ALL-MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM

Coach of the Year: TBA (Thursday)
Player of the Year: TBA (Tuesday afternoon)

First Team
Ron Baker, Wichita State
D.J. Balentine, Evansville
Anthony Beane, Southern Illinois
Egidijus Mockevicius, Evansville
Fred VanVleet, Wichita State

Second Team
DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell, Illinois State
DeVonte Brown, Indiana State
Montel James, Loyola
Brenton Scott, Indiana State
Wes Washpun, Northern Iowa

Honorable Mention
Matt Bohannon, Northern Iowa
Paris Lee, Illinois State
MiKyle McIntosh, Illinois State
Dequon Miller, Missouri State
Jeremy Morgan, Northern Iowa
Reed Timmer, Drake
 

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All-Newcomer Team
Dequon Miller, Missouri State
Anton Grady, Wichita State
Mike Rodriguez, Southern Illinois
Markis McDuffie, Wichita State
Everett Clemons, Indiana State

Newcomer of the Year: TBA (Tuesday afternoon)

All-Freshman Team
Markis McDuffie, Wichita State
Obediah Church, Missouri State
Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, Bradley
Jarred Dixon, Missouri State
Luuk van Bree, Bradley

Freshman of the Year: TBA (Tuesday afternoon)

All-Defensive Team
Ron Baker, Wichita State
Egidijus Mockevicius, Evansville
Jeremy Morgan, Northern Iowa
Fred VanVleet, Wichita State
Paris Lee, Illinois State

Defensive Player of the Year: TBA (Tuesday afternoon)

All-Bench Team
Wednesday

Most-Improved Team
Wednesday

Scholar-Athlete Team
Thursday