PEORIA — Bradley Braves sophomore point guard Jaquan Johnson and senior guard Alex Huibregtse were named to multiple Missouri Valley Conference league awards on Tuesday.
Johnson, who finished third in the nation with 80 steals in 31 games, was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year, and also won a spot on the All-MVC first team and the MVC All-Defensive Team.
Huibregtse was named to the MVC All-Newcomer Team and also earned All-MVC third-team honors.
Johnson was edged in a close vote for the Larry Bird Player of the Year honor by Belmont’s Tyler Lundblade.
Belmont’s Casey Alexander was Coach of the Year, drawing 169 points. UIC coach Rob Ehsan was runnerup (86 points), followed by Valparaiso’s Roger Powell Jr. (65) and Bradley’s Brian Wardle (41).
Johnson was MVC Player of the Week three times this season. He is the sixth Bradley player ever to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award, which has gone to the Braves in three of the last four seasons (Malevy Leons, 2022-23 and 2023-24).
Johnson joins Bradley past winners Adebayo Akinkunle (1998), Jerome Robinson (2001), Patrick O’Bryant (2006), Dyricus Simms-Edwards (2013), Malevy Leons (2023 and 2024). The league began selecting a Defensive Player of the Year in 1989.
Here is a look at the complete awards list:
All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team
All-Missouri Valley Conference Second Team
All-Missouri Valley Conference Third Team
Larry Bird Player of the Year
MVC Coach of the Year
Casey Alexander, Belmont
Defensive Player of the Year
Jaquan Johnson, g, Bradley
MVC All-Defensive Team
MVC Newcomer of the Year
Fred King, c, Murray State
MVC All-Newcomer Team
MVC Freshman of the Year
Romon Domon, g, Murray State
MVC All-Freshman Team
MVC Sixth Man of the Year
Romon Domon, g, Murray State
The awards came from votes of Missouri Valley Conference coaches, team staff and media.
(This story has been updated with additional information)
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley Braves players earn All-Missouri Valley Conference, Defensive Player of Year honors, more
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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