LARAVIA AND WILLIAMS NAMED ALL-MVC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE SECOND TEAM

 

LARAVIA AND WILLIAMS NAMED ALL-MVC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE SECOND TEAM

SAINT LOUIS – Sophomores Jake LaRavia and Tre Williams continued to rack up the Missouri Valley Conference postseason awards Thursday, as the duo was named All-MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team.

LaRavia, who was named to the All-MVC Second Team earlier this week, earned a spot on the Scholar-Athlete team thanks to his 3.30 grade-point average in Sport Management. The Indianapolis, Ind. native averaged 12.5 points and tied for the team-high in rebounding at 6.1 boards per game, while averaging 11.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in Valley play.

Williams, who earned a spot on the MVC All-Defensive team this week, holds a 3.7 GPA in the Scott College of Business. was a defensive force all season, leading the league in blocked shots per game (1.4) and total blocks (34). The Reynoldsburg, Ohio native averaged 9.0 points and 6.1 rebounds on the season, while leading the Valley in blocks per game (1.4) and total blocks (34), and shooting a team-best .528 from the floor.

The honor marks the first time since 2014-15 that Indiana State had two players named to the All-MVC Scholar Athlete team, when Justin Gant and Jake Kitchell were both named first team.

The criteria for the Missouri Valley Conference’s Scholar-Athlete Team voting parallels the CoSIDA (Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-American voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average (4.0. scale). Nominees in grad school must have a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or better both as an undergrad and in graduate school. Nominees must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at an institution and must have completed at least one calendar year at the institution. True freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible athletic transfers are not eligible. Graduate students who are competing at a different institution than the one from which they earned their undergraduate degree are eligible even if they are in their first semester at the graduate institution. A nominee must have played in 50 percent of his team’s games.

Indiana State kicks off their postseason with a 3 p.m. ET tip against Evansville in the second round of Arch Madness.