FOUR TIGERS AND BIRKEY EARN ALL-CCAC HONORS
BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) announced on Tuesday morning its selections for the men's basketball honor roll. Olivet Nazarene University saw four players named to the All-Conference honor roll, for the third-straight season.
Alex Gross was awarded the league's unanimous Player of the Year recipient for the second-straight season to go along with a first-team nod. Gross is the second player in program history to repeat as the Conference's Player of the Year. This is also the fourth-straight season that a Tiger has garnered this prestigious honor as Nic Reed was selected as the 2019 and 2020 CCAC Player of the Year. Tyler Schmidt joins Gross as a first-team selection while Landon Pflederer and Caleb Swearingen were named to the All-CCAC Honorable Mention and All-Freshman teams, respectively. Head Coach Nick Birkey was also named Coach of the Year for the third time in his four years at the helm at ONU.
A native of Hope, Ind., Alex Gross has had an excellent season for the Tigers. Gross led the team averaging a double-double with 23.5 points and 14.5 rebounds. He leads the NAIA in numerous categories which includes rebounds a game (14.5), total rebounds (463), total blocks (108), total points (751), and is second in blocks a game (3.4), and total field goals (298). Gross is also fifth in assists with 178. Gross has tallied three 40-point games, a pair of 30-point games, 29 double-doubles, a pair of triple-doubles, and broke the program record for the most rebounds in a single-season (463 & counting). In his illustrious career, Gross is in fifth place all-time in points (1,964), second in rebounds (1,209), first in blocks (361), fifth in field goals made (795), and eighth in free throws made (363).
The Tiger big man can add these honors to an incredible season that saw Gross win the NAIA National Player of the Week three times, and the CCAC Player of the Week seven times. Gross also was recognized by Small College Basketball as he was selected to the Top 100 and Top 50 Bevo Francis Watch List and was also named as a CoSIDA Academic All-District recipient.
A native of Valparaiso, Ind., Tyler Schmidt has had a strong season. The Tiger guard is second on the team with 19.9 points a game, 656 total points, and 31 threes. Schmidt tallied a pair of 30-point games, 16 20-point efforts, and has recorded three double-doubles this season. Tyler's career-high in scoring came when he tossed in 35 points against St. Francis on January 5th. Schmidt also got the nod as the Conference Player of the Week on December 14th and he won his first career All-Conference award.
A native of Tremont, Ill., Landon Pflederer had a tremendous season for the Tigers. The Tiger point guard averaged 10.8 points game and totaled 194 assists. His 194 total assists leads the NAIA. Pflederer marked a season-high on December 18th against Florida College when he dropped in 26 points. Pflederer has marked a pair of 20-point efforts and tallied a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists against Trinity International on December 1st. This is the first All-Conference recognition for Pflederer.
A native of Brazil, Ind. Caleb Swearingen earned the All-Freshmen team nod. Swearingen has played in all 33 games and started in seven of them. He averaged 5.2 points and amassed a 50.8% field goal percentage. Swearingen marked a career-high 14 points in his second career start against Governors State on December 11th. Caleb is the first Tiger to be placed on the All-Freshmen team in program history.
In his fourth year at the helm at ONU, Nick Birkey won the Ralph Hodge CCAC Coach of Year for the third time, including the last two seasons. Birkey has guided the Tigers to three-straight CCAC Tournament Championship appearances and has won four-straight CCAC Regular Season crowns. He also has guided the Tigers to four-straight NAIA National Tournament Appearances. Under his direction, the Tigers have won 30 wins in two of the last four seasons. Birkey is two wins away from his 100th career win at Olivet Nazarene University.
The Tigers cut down the nets on Monday night as they won their first CCAC Tournament Championship since 2015 as they defeated a battle-tested Lincoln squad, 87-82. ONU awaits its opponent for the 2022 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Opening Round as the selection show takes place on Thursday, March 3rd at 7 p.m. Fans can watch the show on the NAIA Facebook page. The Opening Round games from McHie Arena take place on Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12. The times have not been determined yet.
--ONU—
*Contact: Sam Viebrock, Sports Information Director, stviebrock@olivet.edu