Marlon Ruffin and Matt Pile both earned All-Summit Honorable Mention on Thursday.
Pile, Ruffin Earn All-Summit Honorable Mention
Mar 4, 2021 | Men's Basketball
OMAHA, Neb. -- Two Omaha men's basketball players were honored with postseason accolades as the 2021 All-Summit awards were announced by the Summit League office on Thursday. Matt Pile and Marlon Ruffin were recognized with All-Summit Honorable Mention honors.
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Pile, a native of Wichita, Kan., is now a two-time honorable mention pick. His senior season saw him average 10.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 55.7%. Against league competition, he averaged 11.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game and shot a conference-best 60.8%.
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Pile has scored in double figures 13 times and has a team-leading four double-doubles.
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Pile is the Summit League's blocks leader and ranks in the top five for rebounding, total offensive rebounds and total defensive rebounds. He became Omaha's 42nd 1,000-point scorer in program history on Dec. 17 and ranks third in school history for career rebounds and fourth for career blocks.
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"I'm very happy for Matt, as he's now a two-time league honoree," head coach Derrin Hansen said. "He's very deserving of this recognition, as it caps a fabulous four-year career as a Maverick. We couldn't be happier with Matt's contributions to our program on and off the floor."
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A junior from Madison, Wis., Ruffin has averaged 13.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game for the year, including 15.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest in league play.
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Ruffin had 11 double-figure scoring performances, including all but one league game in which he played, before being sidelined with an injury. He was named Summit League Player of the Week on Nov. 30.
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"I'm thrilled for Marlon in receiving recognition from the league for the second straight year," Hansen said. "He picked up this season where he left off last year, providing us a boost off the bench and eventually entering the starting lineup. When Marlon went down with an injury this year, we lost our leading scorer, and we look forward to his recovery this offseason."
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Since Omaha joined the Summit League in 2012-13, a total of 14 Mavericks have combined for 18 All-Summit awards.
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Omaha heads to the Summit League Men's Basketball Championship this weekend as the tournament's No. 8 seed. The Mavericks face No. 1 seed South Dakota State on Saturday, March 6 in the quarterfinals at 5:45 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The game will be broadcast on Midco, the Midco Sports Plus app and ESPN+, and Gary Sharp will have the radio on 1180 The Zone.
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2021 SUMMIT LEAGUE MEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS
All-Summit First Team
Max Abmas (Oral Roberts)
Rocky Kreuser (North Dakota State)
Kevin Obanor (Oral Roberts)
A.J. Plitzuweit (South Dakota)
Baylor Scheierman (South Dakota State)
Stanley Umude (South Dakota)
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All-Summit Second Team
Will Carius (Western Illinois)
Sam Griesel (North Dakota State)
Brandon McKissic (Kansas City)
Filip Rebraca (North Dakota)
Douglas Wilson (South Dakota State)
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All-Summit Honorable Mention
Josiah Allick (Kansas City)
Xavier Fuller (South Dakota)
Matt Pile (Omaha)
Marlon Ruffin (Omaha)
Jase Townsend (Denver)
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Summit League All-Newcomer Team
Will Carius (Western Illinois)
R.J. Glasper (Oral Roberts)
Tyree Ihenacho (North Dakota)
Grant Nelson (North Dakota State)
A.J. Plitzuweit (South Dakota)
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Player of the Year
Max Abmas (Oral Roberts)
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Defensive Player of the Year
Brandon McKissic (Kansas City)
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Freshman of the Year
Tyree Ihenacho (North Dakota)
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Sixth Man of the Year
Grant Nelson (North Dakota State)
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Newcomer of the Year
A.J. Plitzuweit (South Dakota)
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Coach of the Year
Todd Lee (South Dakota)
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Pile, a native of Wichita, Kan., is now a two-time honorable mention pick. His senior season saw him average 10.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 55.7%. Against league competition, he averaged 11.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game and shot a conference-best 60.8%.
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Pile has scored in double figures 13 times and has a team-leading four double-doubles.
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Pile is the Summit League's blocks leader and ranks in the top five for rebounding, total offensive rebounds and total defensive rebounds. He became Omaha's 42nd 1,000-point scorer in program history on Dec. 17 and ranks third in school history for career rebounds and fourth for career blocks.
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"I'm very happy for Matt, as he's now a two-time league honoree," head coach Derrin Hansen said. "He's very deserving of this recognition, as it caps a fabulous four-year career as a Maverick. We couldn't be happier with Matt's contributions to our program on and off the floor."
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A junior from Madison, Wis., Ruffin has averaged 13.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game for the year, including 15.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest in league play.
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Ruffin had 11 double-figure scoring performances, including all but one league game in which he played, before being sidelined with an injury. He was named Summit League Player of the Week on Nov. 30.
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"I'm thrilled for Marlon in receiving recognition from the league for the second straight year," Hansen said. "He picked up this season where he left off last year, providing us a boost off the bench and eventually entering the starting lineup. When Marlon went down with an injury this year, we lost our leading scorer, and we look forward to his recovery this offseason."
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Since Omaha joined the Summit League in 2012-13, a total of 14 Mavericks have combined for 18 All-Summit awards.
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Omaha heads to the Summit League Men's Basketball Championship this weekend as the tournament's No. 8 seed. The Mavericks face No. 1 seed South Dakota State on Saturday, March 6 in the quarterfinals at 5:45 p.m. at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. The game will be broadcast on Midco, the Midco Sports Plus app and ESPN+, and Gary Sharp will have the radio on 1180 The Zone.
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2021 SUMMIT LEAGUE MEN'S BASKETBALL AWARDS
All-Summit First Team
Max Abmas (Oral Roberts)
Rocky Kreuser (North Dakota State)
Kevin Obanor (Oral Roberts)
A.J. Plitzuweit (South Dakota)
Baylor Scheierman (South Dakota State)
Stanley Umude (South Dakota)
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All-Summit Second Team
Will Carius (Western Illinois)
Sam Griesel (North Dakota State)
Brandon McKissic (Kansas City)
Filip Rebraca (North Dakota)
Douglas Wilson (South Dakota State)
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All-Summit Honorable Mention
Josiah Allick (Kansas City)
Xavier Fuller (South Dakota)
Matt Pile (Omaha)
Marlon Ruffin (Omaha)
Jase Townsend (Denver)
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Summit League All-Newcomer Team
Will Carius (Western Illinois)
R.J. Glasper (Oral Roberts)
Tyree Ihenacho (North Dakota)
Grant Nelson (North Dakota State)
A.J. Plitzuweit (South Dakota)
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Player of the Year
Max Abmas (Oral Roberts)
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Defensive Player of the Year
Brandon McKissic (Kansas City)
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Freshman of the Year
Tyree Ihenacho (North Dakota)
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Sixth Man of the Year
Grant Nelson (North Dakota State)
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Newcomer of the Year
A.J. Plitzuweit (South Dakota)
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Coach of the Year
Todd Lee (South Dakota)
Players Mentioned
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