SAINT LOUIS, Mo. - Drake University sophomore Reed Timmer (New Berlin, Wis.) has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the MVC announced Thursday, March 3.
Timmer was also one of four Bulldogs named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team as Kale Abrahamson (West Des Moines, Iowa) earned first team MVC Scholar-Athlete honors while Karl Madison (Springfield, Ill.) and Graham Woodward (Edina, Minn.) were named to the second team.
Timmer's Scholar-Athlete of the Year award marks the second time since the award's inception that a Bulldog has been the recipient. Adam Emmenecker was the first to earn the honor in 2008.
The quartet of Bulldogs were part of 15 student-athletes honored by the MVC for their efforts in the classroom and on the court. To be eligible for Scholar-Athlete Team honors, a student-athlete must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or higher and have completed at least one academic year at their respective institution.
Timmer, a sophomore that was recently named honorable mention All-MVC, earned Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors a spot on the Scholar-Athlete team by virtue of his 3.57 GPA as a pharmacy major. On the court, the Bulldogs' leading scorer averages 16.9 points per game to rank third in the league with nine 20-point games this season. He has also been named the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week a league-high five times this season.
Abrahamson is a redshirt-junior that is currently enrolled in graduate school having earned his undergraduate degree in psychology last spring. He is second on the team in scoring at 11.5 points per game and second on the team with 54 made three-pointers. He currently maintains a 3.77 GPA in his MBA coursework and earlier this year was a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week selection and a CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree.
Madison, who was a member of the 2015 MVC Scholar-Athlete team, earned the second such honor of his career by maintaining his perfect 4.0 GPA in as he pursues his graduate degree in public administration. A sixth-year senior, he has played in 29 games this season with seven starts with all seven coming in MVC games. He owns a 1.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio with 70 percent of his assists this season coming against conference opponents.
Woodward was named to the Scholar-Athlete second team with a 3.31 GPA in marketing and management. In the first season on the court for the Bulldogs, he is third on the team in scoring at 10.7 points per game and leads the team in three-pointers with 57 this season. He has appeared in all 30 games this season with 26 starts and was an MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honoree.
Drake's four MVC Scholar-Athlete team members begin postseason play this evening in the opening round of the MVC Tournament. The Bulldogs tipoff against Missouri State at 8:30 p.m. at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Mo.
MVC Scholar-Athlete Teams
First Team
Kale Abrahamson, Drake
Jeremy Morgan, UNI
Blake Simmons, Evansville
Reed Timmer, Drake
Evan Wessel, Wichita State
Second Team
Mislav Brzoja, Evansville
Karl Madison, Drake
Justin McCloud, Illinois State
Tyler McCullough, Missouri State
Wyatt Lohaus, UNI
Graham Woodward, Drake
Honorable Mention
Ka'Darryl Bell, Bradley
Ted Friedman, UNI
Brandon Murphy, Indiana State
Ben Richardson, Loyola
