Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Awarded for	the most outstanding basketball player in the Horizon League
Country	United States
First awarded	1980
Currently held by	Loudon Love, Wright State

The Horizon League Men's Basketball Player of the Year is a basketball award given to the Horizon League's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1979–80 season—the first year of the conference's existence. Five players have won the award multiple times: Byron Larkin, Brian Grant, Rashad Phillips, Alfredrick Hughes, and Keifer Sykes. Hughes, unlike the others who each won twice, was awarded the Player of the Year on three occasions—a feat that has never been duplicated.

As of 2010, there have only been two ties in the award's history (1980–81 and 1982–83). The two schools whose players have claimed the most awards, Butler (with seven) and Loyola–Chicago (with six), are no longer conference members, as they respectively left in 2012 and 2013. Among current members, Detroit Mercy has had the most awards with five. Four current members of the Horizon League have never had a winner – IUPUI, Purdue Fort Wayne, Robert Morris, and Youngstown State. However, these schools include the conference's three newest members—IUPUI joined in 2017, while Purdue Fort Wayne and Robert Morris will play their first Horizon League seasons in 2020–21. The only long-established member without a winner is Youngstown State, which joined in 2002.

Key

†	Co-Players of the Year
*	Awarded a national Player of the Year award: the Naismith College Player of the Year or the John R. Wooden Award
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Player of the Year award

Winners

File:Jeff Nordgaard.jpg

Jeff Nordgaard won in 1996 as a player for UW-Green Bay.

Season	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
1979–80	Garrett, CalvinCalvin Garrett	Oral Roberts	Forward	Senior
1980–81†	Clemons, DariusDarius Clemons	Loyola (IL)	Point guard	Junior
1980–81†	Jackson, RubinRubin Jackson	Oklahoma City		Junior
1981–82	Sappleton, WayneWayne Sappleton	Loyola (IL)	Small forward	Senior
1982–83†	Acres, MarkMark Acres	Oral Roberts	Center	Sophomore
1982–83†	Hughes, AlfredrickAlfredrick Hughes	Loyola (IL)	Small forward	Sophomore
1983–84	Hughes, AlfredrickAlfredrick Hughes (2)	Loyola (IL)	Small forward	Junior
1984–85	Hughes, AlfredrickAlfredrick Hughes (3)	Loyola (IL)	Small forward	Senior
1985–86	Larkin, ByronByron Larkin	Xavier	Shooting guard	Sophomore
1986–87	Moore, AndreAndre Moore	Loyola (IL)	Power forward	Senior
1987–88	Larkin, ByronByron Larkin (2)	Xavier	Shooting guard	Senior
1988–89	Haffner, ScottScott Haffner	Evansville	Point guard	Senior
1989–90	Hill, TyroneTyrone Hill	Xavier	Power forward	Senior
1990–91	Archbold, DarinDarin Archbold	Butler	Shooting guard	Junior
1991–92	Casebier, ParrishParrish Casebier	Evansville	Power forward	Junior
1992–93	Grant, BrianBrian Grant	Xavier	Power forward/Center	Junior
1993–94	Grant, BrianBrian Grant (2)	Xavier	Power forward/Center	Senior
1994–95	Ford, SherellSherell Ford	UIC	Forward	Senior
1995–96	Nordgaard, JeffJeff Nordgaard	Green Bay	Small forward	Senior
1996–97	Neuhouser, JonJon Neuhouser	Butler	Power forward	Junior
1997–98	Miller, MarkMark Miller	UIC	Guard	Senior
1998–99	Jackson, JermaineJermaine Jackson	Detroit	Shooting guard	Senior
1999–00	Phillips, RashadRashad Phillips	Detroit	Point guard	Junior
2000–01	Phillips, RashadRashad Phillips (2)	Detroit	Point guard	Senior
2001–02	Hainje, RylanRylan Hainje	Butler	Shooting guard	Senior
2002–03	Green, WillieWillie Green	Detroit	Shooting guard	Senior
2003–04	Page, DylanDylan Page	Milwaukee	Power forward/Center	Senior
2004–05	McCants, EdEd McCants	Milwaukee	Shooting guard	Senior
2005–06	Polk, BrandonBrandon Polk	Butler	Forward	Senior
2006–07	Wood, DaShaunDaShaun Wood	Wright State	Point guard	Senior
2007–08	Green, MikeMike Green	Butler	Shooting guard	Senior
2008–09	Howard, MattMatt Howard	Butler	Power forward	Sophomore
2009–10	Hayward, GordonGordon Hayward	Butler	Shooting guard	Sophomore	[1]
2010–11	Cole, NorrisNorris Cole	Cleveland State	Point guard	Senior	[2]
2011–12	Broekhoff, RyanRyan Broekhoff	Valparaiso	Small forward	Junior	[3]
2012–13	McCallum Jr., RayRay McCallum Jr.	Detroit	Point guard	Junior	[4]
2013–14	Sykes, KeiferKeifer Sykes	Green Bay	Point guard	Junior	[5]
2014–15	Sykes, KeiferKeifer Sykes (2)	Green Bay	Point guard	Senior	[6]
2015–16	Felder, KayKay Felder	Oakland	Point guard	Junior	[7]
2016–17	Peters, AlecAlec Peters	Valparaiso	Small forward	Senior	[8]
2017–18	Nunn, KendrickKendrick Nunn	Oakland	Shooting guard	Senior	[9]
2018–19	McDonald, DrewDrew McDonald	Northern Kentucky	Power forward/center	Senior
2019–20	Love, LoudonLoudon Love	Wright State	Center	Junior

Winners by school

Years joined reflect the actual calendar years in which schools joined the conference. Years of awards reflect the calendar years in which each season ended.

Former members that never had a player receive the award are not listed.

School (year joined)	Winners	Years
Butler (1979)	7	1991, 1997, 2002, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010
Loyola–Chicago (1979)	6	1981†, 1982, 1983†, 1984, 1985, 1987
Detroit Mercy (1980)	5	1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2013
Xavier (1979)	5	1986, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1994
Green Bay (1994)	3	1996
Evansville (1979)	2	1989, 1992
Milwaukee (1994)	2	2004, 2005
Oakland (2013)	2	2016, 2018
Oral Roberts (1979)	2	1980, 1983†
UIC (1994)	2	1995, 1998
Valparaiso (2007)	2	2012, 2017
Wright State (1994)	2	2007, 2020
Cleveland State (1994)	1	2011
Northern Kentucky (2015)	1	2019
Oklahoma City (1979)	1	1981†
IUPUI (2017)	0	—
Purdue Fort Wayne (2020)	0	—
Robert Morris (2020)	0	—
Youngstown State (2002)	0	—

Footnotes

• ^a Butler left in 2012 to join the Atlantic 10 Conference, and is now in the Big East Conference.
• ^b Loyola left in 2013 to join the Missouri Valley Conference.
• ^c The Detroit Mercy athletic program was branded solely as "Detroit" until the 2017–18 season, even though the university's current name has been in effect since 1990.
• ^d Xavier left in 1996 to join the Atlantic 10 Conference, and is now in the Big East Conference.
• ^e Evansville left in 1994 to join the Missouri Valley Conference.
• ^f Oral Roberts left in 1987 to join the Mid-Continent Conference, now known as the Summit League. Apart from a two-season stint in the Southland Conference from 2012 to 2014, it has remained in the Summit League.
• ^g Valparaiso left in 2017 to join the Missouri Valley Conference.
• ^h Oklahoma City left in 1985 to join the Sooner Athletic Conference in the NAIA.

References

• "Horizon League Men's Basketball Historical Records" (pdf). Horizon League. pp. 86–92. http://www.horizonleague.org/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/hori/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/0809_MBB-Back-Pages. Retrieved 7 September 2009. .