MARYVILLE, Mo. – Northwest Missouri State University junior Justin Pitts was named the DII Bulletin Player of the Year and coach Ben McCollum has been announced as the Coach of the Year. Pitts was also named to the publication’s All-America first team and McCollum captured the MIAA Coach of the Year honor.
Pitts was also named the NABC and Basketball Times Player of the Year earlier this month. He averaged 20.9 points in 36 games this season. He set the Northwest career record with 1,929 points and set single season records with 754 points, 183 assists, 275 made field goals and 553 field goals attempted. He scored in double figures in 34 of the team’s 36 games. He was named the MIAA Player of the Year, the MIAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, the NCAA Central Region Most Outstanding Player and the NCAA Elite Eight Most Outstanding Player.
McCollum, who completed his eighth season at Northwest, led the Bearcats to a Northwest and a program and MIAA record 35 victories en route to the 2017 NCAA Division II national championship. He was named the MIAA Coach of the Year for the third straight season. He was also named the NABC Coach of the Year. He holds a 176-71 record and is one of just three programs nationwide to win 20 or more games in each of the past six seasons.
— Northwest Athletics —
