MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University junior guard Justin Pitts has been named the Basketball Times Player of the Year, in a release from the publication on Monday. He was named to the All-America first team for his play this season.
Pitts, the career scoring record holder at Northwest with 1,850 points, has twice been named the MIAA Player of the Year and is a three-time First Team All-MIAA honoree. He has scored in double figures in 31-of-33 games this season, averaging 20.5 per game. He was the All-Central Regional Tournament MVP last week, leading the Bearcats to the Elite Eight for just the third time in program history. Pitts holds the top-two single season scoring records, scoring 693 points last season and 675 this year. He also ranks second all-time with 671 made field goals.
Basketball Times is recognized as the leading monthly publication featuring men’s and women’s college basketball, and especially many years with leading coverage of small colleges.
Also Monday, Pitts was named to the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Division II All-America First Team. Pitts was named the D2CCA Central Region Player of the Year in a release from the organization earlier this year. Shorter’s Phil Taylor was named the 2017 Ron Lenz National Player of the Year.
FIRST TEAM
Phil Taylor** – Shorter
Justin Pitts – NW Missouri State
Matt Bingaya – Fairmont State
Michael Smith – California Baptist
Dustin Sleva – Shippensburg
** Ron Lenz National Player of the Year
— Northwest Athletics —
