Drew Neitzel Named Michigan State Team MVP
3/12/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2007
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The 2007 Michigan State Men's Basketball Awards Banquet was held Monday evening (March 12) at the Holiday Inn South in Lansing, Mich. Junior guard Drew Neitzel (Grand Rapids, Mich.) was named Team MVP as voted on by both the media and his teammates. Former Spartan Dr. Michael Longaker was recognized with the Distinguished Alumnus Award.
Neitzel averages a team-best 18.1 points per game, ranking fourth in the Big Ten. In conference games, he ranked third in scoring (18.3 ppg). He leads the conference in free-throw percentage (.881) and 3-point field goals made (3.21 pg), and ranks among the leaders in minutes played (2nd, 35.52 mpg), assist-to-turnover ratio (5th, 1.86) and assists (6th, 4.27 apg). He scored 20 or more points in 16 games. He was selected as the Big Ten's Player of the Week three times (Nov. 20, Nov. 27 and Feb. 26) and was named National Player of the Week by ESPN.com's Andy Katz on Feb. 26. Among his other accolades, Neitzel was named First-Team All-Big Ten, first-team all-district by the USBWA and NABC, second-team All-American by CBS SportsLine.com and is one of 22 players on the Wooden Award national ballot.
Sophomore guard Travis Walton (Lima, Ohio) was honored by his teammates with three awards. While often being assigned the opponent's best perimeter player, Walton has posted a team-leading 37 steals, earning him the John E. Benington Best Defensive Player Award. For his efforts, Walton also was named to the Big Ten All-Defensive Team as voted on by the league coaches.
In addition, Walton was honored with the Stephen G. Scofes Inspirational Player and the Antonio Smith Glue and Guts Award. As only the third sophomore captain under Tom Izzo, Walton has helped co-captain Drew Neitzel lead the Spartans to an unexpected 10th NCAA Tournament appearance. Walton is currently averaging a team-best 5.48 assists per game, which ranks him second in the conference, and a 2.21 assist-to-turnover ratio to put him at third in the Big Ten. He has made huge strides since his freshman campaign, scoring in double-figures in eight game this season, after not scoring more than seven points in a single game last year. He has nearly doubled his playing time from last season as well, averaging 32.6 minutes per game, as compared to 18.7 last season.
Goran Suton (Lansing, Mich.) received the Most Improved Player Award after improving in nearly every statistical category. The red-shirt sophomore increased his point production from 3.0 ppg to 9.5 ppg, rebounding from 2.8 to 6.8, and assists from 0.5 to 2.4. Suton has posted double-doubles in five games this season (Youngstown State, BYU, UWGB, Ohio State and Michigan). His team-leading 225 rebounds also earned him the Chairman of the Board Award. Suton has led MSU in rebounding in 15 games, and ranks sixth in rebounding in the Big Ten.
Red-shirt junior center Drew Naymick (Muskegon, Mich.) has been named the Unsung Player for his efforts in 2007. While not all of his contributions show up on the stat sheet, Naymick has earned a starting role in the last nine games and leads the team in blocked shots with 54. He is currently second on the MSU single-season list for blocked shots, and his career total, 73, ties him with Adam Ballinger for sixth on the MSU career blocks list. Naymick is averaging 3.8 ppg in 12.3 minutes of action.
Naymick and Jake Hannon (Cody, Wyo.) share the Scholar-Athlete Award for 2007. Despite the demands placed on them by athletics both have maintained over a 3.5 grade-point average. Naymick, a member of the MSU Honor's College is receiving the honor for his third-straight year. Hannon is receiving the award for the first time. He is majoring in human biology.
In his second season with the Michigan State team, Hannon also has earned the Tim Bograkos Walk-On Award. Hannon is the first recipient of the award named after former walk-on Tim Bograkos (2002-05), and is being honored for his hustle and hard work.
Former Spartan Mike Longaker received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Longaker was a three-year letterwinner from 1978-80. He was known as the squad's most inspirational player, with his contagious enthusiasm and hustle. MSU head coach Jud Heathcote called him "one of the great, solid, super kids" he has coached. Joining the Spartan squad as a walk-on during his freshman campaign, he played in 52 games during his career. As one of Michigan State's most physical defenders, he had the difficult chore of guarding Earvin Johnson in practice for two seasons, including MSU's 1979 NCAA Championship team. In 1980, he received the MSU Dr. James Feurig Achievement and Service Award, while also winning the men's basketball Sportsmanship Award in both 1979 & 1980. He earned an honorable mention spot on the Big Ten All-Academic Team.
A finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship, Longaker graduated from MSU with a nearly-perfect 3.95 grade-point average and attended medical school at Harvard where he graduated in the top percent of his class in 1984. In 2003, he earned his M.B.A. from University of California-Berkeley and Columbia University in the inaugural class of their combined program. Dr. Longaker has split his professional career between stints in New York and California. He currently is a professor in the Department of Surgery at the Stanford University Medical Center, while also serving as the director of the Children's Surgical Research Lab at Stanford.
