ST. PAUL, Minn. - Following last week's conference tournament, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference has released its Men's Basketball Awards for the 2024-25 season. Three University of Northwestern student-athletes were among the honorees after the Eagles finished the season 9-5 in conference play, earned the No. 3 seed in the UMAC Tournament, and lost to Bethany Lutheran in overtime of the Conference Championship game.

The full UMAC press release can be found here.

Japheth Nyamari's (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) debut in the UMAC Men's Basketball Awards is a notable one, as the junior received First Team All-Conference recognition. In conference play, Nyamari was the second-leading scorer in the UMAC with 21.2 points per game, just 0.4 points behind the leader. His 84.2% free throw percentage was fourth-best in the conference, and he was sixth in the UMAC in three-pointers per game at 2.5. In conference games alone, the Anoka native had three outings of at least 30 points, and had one more out of conference.

AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) made his first appearance in the UMAC Men's Basketball Awards as well after a stellar first season in Northwestern's rotation. The sophomore was 10th in conference scoring with 13.6 points per game, 10th in qualified field goal percentage (45.5%) and tied for fifth in steals per game with 1.6. Greene scored 15+ points eight times in conference play, including a career-high 22 at Martin Luther, and was named UMAC Player of the Week on December 24th. Joining Greene and Nyamari in this years awards is Kelton Vincent (Volga, S.D./Sioux Valley), who was recognized as UNW's representative on the All-Sportsmanship team. The senior captain earned that spot for his leadership, grit and integrity.

2024-25 UMAC Men's Basketball Awards

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Pal Dak (Minnesota Morris)
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Pal Dak (Minnesota Morris)
 
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Adam Loberger (Martin Luther)
 
COACH OF THE YEAR
Paul Grove (Minnesota Morris)
 
TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP
Martin Luther Knights
 
FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Tyrus Buckner (Crown)
Pal Dak (Minnesota Morris)
Carrington McNeal (North Central)
Japheth Nyamari (Anoka, Minn./Anoka) (Northwestern)
Drew Sagedahl (Bethany Lutheran)
 
SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Dom Aguilar (Minnesota Morris) 
Reid Johnson (UW-Superior)
Jax Madson (Bethany Lutheran) 
Malik Siggers (North Central)
J'Vaun Walker (UW-Superior)      
 
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORABLE MENTIONS
Dominik Bangu (Bethany Lutheran)     
AJ Greene (Roseville, Minn./Concordia Academy) (Northwestern)
John Grigsby (Crown)        
Tanner Holtman (North Central) 
Adam Loberger (Martin Luther)  
Carmello McNeal (North Central)           
Remy Wedgeworth-Brown (North Central)
 
DEFENSIVE ALL-CONFERENCE
Pal Dak (Minnesota Morris)          
Carrington McNeal (North Central)        
Benjamin Pearson (Martin Luther)
Cameron Thomas (North Central)          
J'Vaun Walker (UW-Superior)
 
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP
Steven Colon (North Central)
Ian Fahje (Minnesota Morris)
Luke Fehrenbacher (UW-Superior)
Stephen Kesti (Northland)
Winston Knox (Bethany Lutheran)
Jacob Van Dam (Crown)
Seth Veers (Martin Luther)
Kelton Vincent (Volga, S.D./Sioux Valley) (Northwestern)