Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The Mid-American Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an award given to the most outstanding men's basketball player in the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The award was first given following the 1967–68 season. Four players have won the award multiple times: Tom Kozelko, Ron Harper, Gary Trent and Bonzi Wells. Trent is the only player to have been honored as player of the year three times (1993–95). There have been no ties, nor has any player from the MAC ever won any of the national player of the year awards.

MAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Awarded for	the most outstanding basketball player in the Mid-American Conference
Country	United States
History
First award	1968
Most recent	Enrique Freeman, Akron

Through 2024, Ohio has the most all-time winners with 11. Toledo is second with eight winners. All current members of the MAC have had at least one winner.

Key

†	Co-Players of the Year
*	Awarded a national player of the year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present)
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the MAC Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Steve Mix, Toledo, 1969

Walter Luckett, Ohio, 1974

Dan Roundfield (r), Central Michigan, 1975

Paul Dawkins, Northern Illinois, 1979

Ron Harper, Miami, 1985 and 1986

Bonzi Wells, Ball State, 1996 and 1998

Antonio Daniels, Bowling Green, 1997

Wally Szczerbiak, Miami, 1999

Chris Kaman, Central Michigan, 2003

DeAndre Haynes, Kent State, 2006

Romeo Travis, Akron, 2007

Michael Bramos, Miami, 2009

Javon McCrea, Buffalo, 2014

Antonio Campbell, Ohio, 2016

C. J. Massinburg, Buffalo, 2019

Marreon Jackson, Toledo, 2021

RayJ Dennis, Toledo, 2023

Enrique Freeman, Akron, 2024

Season	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
1967–68	Fred Foster	Miami	F	Senior	[1]
1968–69	Steve Mix	Toledo	C	Senior	[2]
1969–70	Jim Penix	Bowling Green	SF	Senior	[3]
1970–71	Ken Kowall	Ohio	G	Senior	[4]
1971–72	Tom Kozelko	Toledo	PF	Junior	[5]
1972–73	Tom Kozelko (2)	Toledo	PF	Senior	[6]
1973–74	Walter Luckett	Ohio	SG	Sophomore	[7]
1974–75	Dan Roundfield	Central Michigan	PF / C	Senior	[8]
1975–76	Jeff Tyson	Western Michigan	SF	Senior	[9]
1976–77	Matt Hicks	Northern Illinois	PF	Senior	[10]
1977–78	Archie Aldridge	Miami	PF	Senior	[11]
1978–79	Paul Dawkins	Northern Illinois	SF	Senior	[12]
1979–80	Jim Swaney	Toledo	F	Senior	[13]
1980–81	Harvey Knuckles	Toledo	SF	Senior	[14]
1981–82	Mel McLaughlin	Central Michigan	SG	Junior	[15]
1982–83	Ray McCallum	Ball State	PG	Senior	[16]
1983–84	John Devereaux	Ohio	C	Senior	[17]
1984–85	Ron Harper	Miami	SG	Junior	[18]
1985–86	Ron Harper (2)	Miami	SG	Senior	[19]
1986–87	Booker James	Western Michigan	SF / SG	Senior	[20]
1987–88	Grant Long	Eastern Michigan	PF	Senior	[21]
1988–89	Paul Graham	Ohio	SF / SG	Senior	[22]
1989–90	Dave Jamerson	Ohio	SG	Senior	[23]
1990–91	Marcus Kennedy	Eastern Michigan	PF	Senior	[24]
1991–92	Lewis Geter	Ohio	SF	Senior	[25]
1992–93	Gary Trent	Ohio	PF	Freshman	[26]
1993–94	Gary Trent (2)	Ohio	PF	Sophomore	[27]
1994–95	Gary Trent (3)	Ohio	PF	Junior	[28]
1995–96	Bonzi Wells	Ball State	SF	Sophomore	[29]
1996–97	Antonio Daniels	Bowling Green	PG	Senior	[30]
1997–98	Bonzi Wells (2)	Ball State	SF	Senior	[31]
1998–99	Wally Szczerbiak	Miami	SF / SG	Senior	[32]
1999–00	Anthony Stacey	Bowling Green	SF	Senior	[33]
2000–01	David Webber	Central Michigan	PG	Junior	[34]
2001–02	Keith McLeod	Bowling Green	SG	Senior	[35]
2002–03	Chris Kaman	Central Michigan	C	Junior	[36]
2003–04	Mike Williams	Western Michigan	SF / PF	Senior	[37]
2004–05	Turner Battle	Buffalo	PG	Senior	[38]
2005–06	DeAndre Haynes	Kent State	PG	Senior	[39]
2006–07	Romeo Travis	Akron	SF	Senior	[40]
2007–08	Al Fisher	Kent State	PG / SG	Junior	[41]
2008–09	Michael Bramos	Miami	SG / SF	Senior	[42]
2009–10	David Kool	Western Michigan	G	Senior	[43]
2010–11	Justin Greene	Kent State	SF	Junior	[44]
2011–12	Mitchell Watt	Buffalo	C	Senior	[45]
2012–13	D. J. Cooper	Ohio	PG	Senior	[46]
2013–14	Javon McCrea	Buffalo	PF	Senior	[47]
2014–15	Justin Moss	Buffalo	PF	Junior	[48]
2015–16	Antonio Campbell	Ohio	F	Junior	[49]
2016–17	Isaiah Johnson	Akron	C	Senior	[50]
2017–18	Tre'Shaun Fletcher	Toledo	SG / SF	Senior	[51]
2018–19	C. J. Massinburg	Buffalo	SG	Senior	[52]
2019–20	Loren Jackson	Akron	PG	Junior	[53]
2020–21	Marreon Jackson	Toledo	PG	Senior	[54]
2021–22	Sincere Carry	Kent State	PG	Junior	[55]
2022–23	RayJ Dennis	Toledo	SG	Senior	[56]
2023–24	Enrique Freeman	Akron	PF	Graduate	[57]

Winners by school

School (year joined)	Winners	Years
Ohio (1947)	11	1971, 1974, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2013, 2016
Toledo (1951)	8	1969, 1972, 1973, 1980, 1981, 2018, 2021, 2023
Miami (1948)	6	1968, 1978, 1985, 1986, 1999, 2009
Buffalo (1999)	5	2005, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2019
Akron (1992)	4	2007, 2017, 2020, 2024
Bowling Green (1952)	4	1970, 1997, 2000, 2002
Central Michigan (1972)	4	1975, 1982, 2001, 2003
Kent State (1951)	4	2006, 2008, 2011, 2022
Western Michigan (1948)	4	1976, 1987, 2004, 2010
Ball State (1973)	3	1983, 1996, 1998
Eastern Michigan (1972)	2	1988, 1991
Northern Illinois (1973/1997)[a]	2	1977, 1979
Marshall (1954/1997)[b]	0	—

• ^a Northern Illinois University was a member from 1973 to 1986, then left for a period. They rejoined in 1997 and continue as a member today.
• ^b Marshall University was a member starting in 1954 before being expelled from the conference in 1969 due to NCAA violations. The Thundering Herd rejoined in 1997, but left in 2005 for Conference USA.

References

1. "Miami's Fred foster MAC Player of Year". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. March 6, 1968. p. 29. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Locke, Mix MAC's Best". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. March 10, 1969. p. 19. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "MAC Hoop Star Man on the Move". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio. March 8, 1970. p. 69. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Ken Kowall MAC's Choice". Times Recorder. Zanesville, Ohio. March 10, 1971. p. 21. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Tom Kozelko Of Toledo Named Player Of Year". Springfield News-Sun. Springfield, Ohio. March 14, 1972. p. 13. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Tom Kozelko named top MAC player". Washington C.H. Record-Herald. Washington Court House, Ohio. March 14, 1973. p. 18. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Bob Nichols, Walter Luckett MAC's Top Coach, Player". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana. March 28, 1974. p. 23. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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10. "Hicks the best". Troy Daily News. Troy, Ohio. March 15, 1977. p. 7. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Miami's Aldridge named most valuable MAC player". The Cincinnati Post. Cincinnati, Ohio. March 22, 1978. p. 41. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "Dawkins, Rayhorn honored". Daily Chronicle. DeKalb, Illinois. April 11, 1979. p. 14. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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21. "Long honored". Telegraph-Forum. Bucyrus, Ohio. March 15, 1988. p. 10. Retrieved January 31, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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40. "Akron's Travis MAC's top player". Sidney Daily News. Sidney, Ohio. March 7, 2007. p. 16. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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42. Beaven, Michael (March 14, 2009). "Bramos, RedHawks await the leftovers". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. p. 28. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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47. Mandelaro, Jim (March 13, 2014). "Leader of the MAC: Newark's McCrea named the conference's Player of the Year". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. p. D1. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
48. "Key play put Mountaineers on top". The Roanoke Times. Roanoke, Virginia. March 21, 2015. p. 20. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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56. "Akron, Kent State earn multiple spots on All-MAC teams". Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. March 10, 2023. p. B5. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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