 Last
week Eastern Washington’s Rodney Stuckey became the first
freshman in the history of the Big Sky Conference to be named
player of the year. That made him just one of twelve players, in
NCAA Division I history, to win conference player of the year
honors as a freshman.
Now he is the first Big Sky player to ever earn National
Freshman of the Year honors.
“Rodney has received many tremendous accolades this year,
however, being recognized nationally as the freshman of the year
is a phenomenal achievement,” says Eastern Washington head coach
Mike Burns. We obviously feel he is deserving of the award. Not
only has he been a great player, but he’s been a great student
and, most importantly, a great teammate.”
It would be an understatement to say that the 6-foot-4 guard has
a phenomenal season. Currently ranked 9th in the nation in
scoring (24.1), Stuckey is tops among all freshmen and
sophomores. He became just the 36th player in NCAA Division I to
lead his conference in scoring as a freshman.
After helping the Eagles to a third place finish and a birth in
the Big Sky tournament, Stuckey scored 38 points in a
first-round win over Portland State, this past Saturday. It was
the sixth time he has scored 30 or more this season and it was
the second best performance in Big Sky tournament history. On
Jan. 5 he had a career-best and a school-record 45 against
Northern Arizona, on 15-for-21 shooting.
“He’s the real deal,” says CollegeInsider.com senior writer Matt
Drake. “He can shoot, pass and defend, but his biggest
contribution is his leadership. This kid is mature beyond his
years.”
Stuckey, who has scored in double figures in all 29 games this
season, also leads Eastern Washington in assists (4.1) and is
second on the team in rebounding (4.8).
“We’re thrilled for the attention this honor brings not only to
Rodney, but to our basketball program, Eastern Washington
University and the Big Sky Conference. We would like to thank
Collegeinsider.com for recognizing him with this prestigious
award.” |
