Contact: Brock Reisler, Assistant Executive Director, breisler@midwestconference.org
 
OSHKOSH, Wisconsin – Monmouth College forward Zay Brown was named the Midwest Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive season as the league’s postseason awards were announced on Thursday morning. The Fighting Scots’ forward headlines the All-Midwest Conference awards with his second straight first team selection.
 
A preseason All-American by D3hoops.com, Brown had a standout sophomore season in leading Monmouth to the #2 seed in this weekend’s Midwest Conference Tournament. Across MWC contests, Brown led the league in scoring (21.5 ppg) and rebounding (10.1 rpg) and was fourth in free throw percentage (78.2%), fifth in blocked shots (18), fifth in minutes (33.5 mpg), fifth in field goal percentage (50.6%) and 18th in assists (2.1 apg). In the process, he became the first MWC men’s basketball player to earn back-to-back player of the year awards since Ripon’s Ty Sabin in 2016 and 2017.
 
Grinnell College’s Tyler Copes was named both the Newcomer of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. In helping the Pioneers to their first MWC title since 2009, Copes led the league in blocked shots (35) and was 10th in steals (20). He was also 11th in rebounding, averaging 5.3 boards per contest. Across all games, Copes had 20 more blocks than another other person in the conference (55 total).
 
Joining Brown on the All-MWC First Team are Grinnell’s Gabe Garcia, Illinois College’s Ty Lenhardt, Monmouth’s Cameron Thomas and Lake Forest’s Alex Forowycz and Cristian Rodriguez.
 
Cornell’s Kylen Bonner, Knox’s Josh Stewart, Lawrence’s Casey Schoenecker, Monmouth’s Kyle Taylor and Grinnell’s Tyler Copes and Zach Rosen were named All-MWC Second Team.
 
In his eighth season as Grinnell’s head coach, Dave Arseneault Jr. was named the Midwest Conference Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three seasons. Arseneault Jr. led the Pioneers to their first outright league crown since 2007, 20 overall victories and 15 conference wins. Grinnell has won 10 consecutive games and has lost once since mid-November.

The full list of All-Conference and major award honorees can be found below.

Newcomer of the Year – Tyler Copes, Grinnell College
Player of the Year – Zay Brown, Monmouth College
Defensive Player of the Year – Tyler Copes, Grinnell College
Coach of the Year – Dave Arseneault Jr., Grinnell College
 
First Team All-Conference
Gabe Garcia, Guard - Grinnell College (Jr.)
Ty Lenhardt, Guard - Illinois College (Jr.)
Alex Forowycz, Guard - Lake Forest College (Sr.)
Cristian Rodriguez, Forward - Lake Forest College (Sr.)
Zay Brown, Forward - Monmouth College (So.)
Cameron Thomas, Guard - Monmouth College (So.)
 
Second Team All-Conference
Kylen Bonner, Guard - Cornell College (Fr.)
Tyler Copes, Forward - Grinnell College (Fr.)
Zach Rosen, Guard - Grinnell College (Sr.)
Josh Stewart, Wing - Knox College (Jr.)
Casey Schoenecker, Forward - Lawrence University (Jr.)
Kyle Taylor, Point Guard - Monmouth College (Sr.)