Montana senior forward Martin Breunig and Weber State center Joel Bolomboy have been added to the 2015-16 Lou Henson Award mid-season watch list for best mid-major player in Division I college basketball, as announced by CollegeInsider.com.
A preseason All-Big Sky selection, Breunig has been a force for the Griz this season. The senior from Leverkusen, Germany leads the Griz in scoring, averaging 17.5 points per game, up from his 16.7 average last season.
Bolomboy, a 6-foot-9 senior from Arlington, Texas, was the Big Sky’s Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore. This season, Bolomboy is averaging 18.2 points per game on 61.5 percent shooting. His 13.5 rebounds per game is the second-best average in Division I basketball. He pulled down 23 rebounds in Weber’s 74-62 win over North Dakota on Thursday night. Bolomboy has notched double-doubles in 14 of Weber’s 15 games during a 10-5 start.
Breunig posted his fifth double-double of the season on Thursday night in UM’s 79-66 win over Portland State. His 245 points over 14 games puts him at No. 6 on the Big Sky scoring leader list this season. Breunig has also pulled down 122 rebounds so far this season, averaging 8.7 per game, the second best average in the Big Sky.
The Lou Henson award is presented annually to the top Division I mid-major player as voted on by the award committee. Eligible players must in the following conferences or leagues: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Independents, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast and Western Athletic.
The Lou Henson Award committee is a 30-member panel, consisting of five current Division I head coaches, five retired head coaches, 10 current athletic directors and/or conference administrators, five members of the national media and five CollegeInsider.com staff members.
The recipient of the 2016 award will be announced at the CollegeInsider.com Award Presentation on April 1 in Houston, site of the men’s division I national championship.
Former Grizzles Kareem Jamar and Will Cherry have also made appearances on the Henson watch list during their careers at Montana.
2015-16 LOU HENSON MID-SEASON WATCH LIST
Paris Bass 6-8 So. Detroit
Anthony Beane 6-2 Sr. Southern Illinois
Joel Bolomboy 6-9 Sr. Weber State
Nathan Boothe 6-9 Sr. Toledo
Evans Bradds 6-7 Jr. Belmont
Josh Braun 6-4 So. Grand Canyon
Martin Breunig 6-8 Sr. Montana
John Brown 6-8 Sr. High Point
Obi Emegano 6-3 Jr. Oral Roberts
A.J. English 6-4 Sr. Iona
Quincy Ford 6-8 Sr. Northeastern
Juan’ya Green 6-2 Sr. Hofstra
Kevin Hervey 6-8 Jr. UT Arlington
Peter Hooley 6-4 Sr. Albany
Casey Jones 6-5 Sr. Chattanooga
Maodo Lo 6-3 Sr. Columbia
Shawn Long 6-9 Sr. UL-Lafayette
Egidijus Mockevicius 6-10 Sr. Evansville
Dallas Moore 6-1 Jr. North Florida
Mamadou Ndiaye 7-6 Jr. UC Irvine
Deondre Parks 6-1 Sr. South Dakota State
Alec Peters 6-9 Jr. Valparaiso
Justin Robinson 5-8 Jr. Monmouth
Justin Sears 6-8 Sr. Yale
Pascal Siakam 6-9 So. New Mexico State
Rashawn Thomas 6-8 Jr. Texas A&M Corpus Christi
Matt Tiby 6-8 Sr. Milwaukee
Fred VanFleet 6-0 Sr. Wichita State
Thomas Walkup 6-4 Sr. Stephen. F. Austin
Jameel Warney 6-8 Sr. Stony Brook
Wes Washpun 6-1 Sr. Northern Iowa
