Kiser Named to MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team

The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team added to its haul of Missouri Valley Conference accolades on Thursday as senior John Kiser (Noblesville, Ind. / Noblesville) was recognized for his excellence both on the court and in the classroom as part of the MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team.

Kiser, a mechanical engineering major with a 3.53 cumulative grade point average, earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Honorable Mention in 2017-18. Thursday’s honor comes a day after he was named to the 2020 MVC All-Bench Team.

Kiser went from a walk-on as a freshman to a key contributor for the next three seasons. On the court, he is averaging 5.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game over 29 contests (six starts) during his senior season. He is tied for second on the team in rebounds per game and shoots a team-best 82.6 percent at the free-throw line. The Noblesville, Ind. native had a career-high 12 points to go along with eight rebounds in a Jan. 18 victory over Indiana State. He has a season plus-minus of +48, third on the team behind Javon Freeman-Liberty and Donovan Clay. Kiser is regarded by coaches and teammates as the “glue guy” who makes significant contributions that do not show up in the box score.

Off the court, Kiser represents his team on Valpo’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He has volunteered at Chicago Children’s Hospital, the Valparaiso Police Department, the Popcorn Festival and the Walk to End Type 1 Diabetes. The Valpo veteran job shadowed at Braun Ability Vehicle Engineering the summer before his senior season.

2020 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE FIRST TEAM

Student-Athlete, School Yr. GPA Major Hometown (Last School)

Barret Benson, Southern Illinois Gr. 4.00 Recreation Professions Willowbrook (Ill.) Northwestern

AJ Green, UNI So. 3.61 Movement & Exercise Science Cedar Falls (Iowa) High

Nate Kennell, Bradley Sr. 3.52 Mgmt. Information Systems Metamora (Ill.) Metamora Township

Cameron Krutwig, Loyola Jr. 3.43 Entrepreneurship Algonquin (Ill.) Jacobs

Austin Phyfe, UNI So. 3.56 Elementary Education & Waverly (Iowa) Waverly Shell-Rock

Middle Level Education

2020 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE SECOND TEAM

Student-Athlete, School Yr. GPA Major Hometown (High School)

Koch Bar, Bradley Sr. 3.46 Studio Art Graphic Design Abyei (South Sudan) Arlington Country Day

Elijah Childs, Bradley Jr. 3.33 Sports Communication Kansas City (Mo.) Lee’s Summit West

Tate Hall, Loyola Jr. 3.46 Finance Greenfield (Ind.) Greenfield-Central/UIndy

Tyreke Key, Indiana State Jr. 3.20 Recreation & Sports Mgmt. Celina (Tenn.) Clay County High

John Kiser, Valparaiso Sr. 3.53 Mechanical Engineering Noblesville (Ind.) Noblesville

Garrett Sturtz, Drake So. 3.39 Marketing Newton (Iowa) Newton

2020 MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE HONORABLE MENTIONS

Student-Athlete, School Yr. GPA Major Hometown (High School)

Justin Dahl, UNI Sr. 3.35 Business Analytics Carver (Minn.) Holy Family

Ja’Shon Henry, Bradley So. 3.22 FCS Retail Merchandising Saskatoon / Athol Murray College of Notre Dame

Evan Kuhlman, Evansville Jr. 3.22 Finance Liberty Township (Ohio) Lakota East

Bruno Skokna, Loyola Sr. 3.69 Finance Zagreb (Croatia)