RaeQuan Battle and Danny Sprinkle
Photo by: Garrett Becker
Sprinkle, Belo Highlight Bobcat Men’s Basketball Awards Haul
3/8/2022 10:56:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Montana State men’s basketball program received numerous accolades from the Big Sky Conference on Tuesday as the league announced its 2021-22 regular season award winners.
BOISE, Idaho – The Montana State men's basketball program received numerous accolades from the Big Sky Conference on Tuesday as the league announced its 2021-22 regular season award winners.
Head coach Danny Sprinkle and junior Jubrile Belo were recognized with the highest honors awarded by the Big Sky Conference. Sprinkle was named the conference's Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. Belo, who was a unanimous First Team All-Big Sky selection, was named the league's Most Valuable Player and the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year.
Sprinkle was a unanimous selection for the Big Sky Coach of the Year award. A former player in the program from 1995-99, Sprinkle is the fourth Montana State coach to earn the award joining Roger Craft, Stu Starner and Mick Durham.
The Bobcats are currently 24-7 this season which represents the most overall victories for the program in over 70 years. MSU's 16-4 mark in league play was two games ahead of the runner-up in the conference standings and the 16 wins were four more than MSU had ever totaled in their Big Sky era.
MSU claimed the Big Sky's regular season title for the first time in 20 years and for just the fifth time ever since joining the conference in 1963-64. Sprinkle is the first coach to lead the Bobcats to three straight winning seasons in his first three years at the helm since Brick Breeden achieved the feat from 1935-38. He's the first Bobcat coach to reach 50 victories before the end of his third season in 84 years, while his current mark of 53 wins within his third season are the most by a Bobcat coach since Schubert Dyche won 66 contests in a span from 1928-31.
The Bobcats are 53-32 during Sprinkle's tenure. His .624 winning percentage is the second best among 12 coaches in the Bobcat men's team history with at least 40 victories. Sprinkle only trails Ott Romney's .829 mark that he accumulated over six seasons in the 1920s.
A season ago, Sprinkle became the first Montana State coach to lead the program to the Big Sky Championship during his first two years. Since 1996, Montana State has won 10 games at the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Seven of those wins have come with Sprinkle as either a student-athlete, an assistant coach (2006-08) or head coach (2019-22) for the Bobcats.
Belo made significant program history by claiming both the Big Sky MVP and Defensive Player of the Year honors. He's the third player in Big Sky history to earn both awards in the same season joining Joel Bolomboy of Weber State in 2016 and Seamus Boxley of Portland State in 2005.
The London, England, native is the fourth Bobcat to win MVP joining Jason Erickson (2002), Quadre Lollis (1996) and Tom Domako (1987). He's the second Bobcat to win Defensive Player of the Year with the first winner being Al Beye in 2006.
Belo leads the Big Sky in blocked shots per game (1.90) and total blocks (57) and ranks among the top 50 in the nation in both. Belo sits atop the league leaders in free throw attempts and is 13th in Division I men's basketball with 192. He's third in the Big Sky and 26th in the country with 138 free throws made. He sits in the top 10 in the league with seven rebounds per game, while he also averages 13.5 points and an assist per contest.
In his third year in the program, Belo stands at second all-time in program history with 124 blocked shots. His current total of 57 this season is third most and is six away from breaking the single-season record. Belo's 192 free throw attempts are sixth most by a Bobcat at this time and his 138 free throws rank 10th. He's currently seventh in career field goal percentage (60.6%), fifth in free throw attempts (511) and seventh in free throws made (377).
Belo became the Bobcats' 39th member of their 1,000 point club this season and he currently stands at 1,132 points. He's recorded five double-doubles this season and has scored in double digits in all but four of the games he's appeared in. Belo has six double-digit rebound games including a 16-rebound effort at Montana on Feb. 27 which was the most by an MSU player in a game since 1996. He's the only player in program history to have recorded 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a college career.
The second of two Montana State Preseason All-Big Sky choices also claimed First Team All-Big Sky honors as Xavier Bishop was recognized by the league.
Bishop was a Second Team selection a season ago in his debut year as a Bobcat. MSU's scoring average leader at 13.7 points per game, Bishop also had a career-high 4.3 assists clip. He ranked among the top five players in the Big Sky in assists per game, assist/turnover ratio (1.78) and minutes per game (33:53).
A double-digit scorer in 23 games this season, Bishop is nearing the 1,800-career point mark. This year he had six 20-plus point scoring performances. He matched his career high of 28 points in the March 1 win over Southern Utah. The Springfield, Ill., native currently ranks among the top 50 active players in Division I men's basketball in career points and assists.
RaeQuan Battle improved over the course of the 2021-22 season and was honored as the Big Sky's Top Reserve, sharing the honors with Montana's Cameron Parker. Battle became just the second Bobcat recognized with the award joining Marcus Colbert in 2015.
The Tulalip, Wash., native averaged over 12 points and shot over 50% from the field in the final 14 games of the season. Battle had 11 double-digit scoring games in Big Sky play as he averaged 9.9 points, shot 48.9% from the field and 39.1% from deep. He played 18.7 minutes per contest over 20 league games. Battle also shot 87.8% from the free throw line and averaged 2.6 rebounds per contest.
In his first season at Montana State after spending two years at Washington, Battle averaged 8.4 points and 2.5 rebounds over the 31-game schedule. He matched his season high of 17 points in wins over Southern Utah (Feb. 19) and Sacramento State (March 3). Battle, who hit an eventual game-winning jumper versus Portland State on Feb. 10, helped cap MSU's regular season with a game-winning 3-pointer over Northern Colorado on March 5 that was SportsCenter's top play of the day.
Amin Adamu rounded out recognition for Montana State from the Big Sky Conference on Tuesday. Adamu was an honorable mention to the All-Big Sky team. In his third season in the program, Adamu was a Third Team selection a season ago.
The London, England, native nears the 1,000-point club at 998 career points. Adamu has been a double-digit scorer in 21 games this season. He scored a season-high 19 points while playing 38 minutes in a Jan. 9 victory over Montana. This season, Adamu averaged 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds and played over 27 minutes per appearance. He captured career bests in all shooting categories by registering a 49.4% clip from the field, 39.3% mark from 3-point range and 81.4% tally from the free throw line. Adamu played over 30 minutes in 10 contests this season.
The Big Sky All-Conference Teams and Individual Award Winners are vote on by the league's 11 head coaches. They are not allowed to vote for players on their own team.
Montana State is the top seed in the 2022 Big Sky Conference Tournament being played at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. The Bobcats make their postseason debut this season at 12 p.m. on Thursday.
Head coach Danny Sprinkle and junior Jubrile Belo were recognized with the highest honors awarded by the Big Sky Conference. Sprinkle was named the conference's Men's Basketball Coach of the Year. Belo, who was a unanimous First Team All-Big Sky selection, was named the league's Most Valuable Player and the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year.
Sprinkle was a unanimous selection for the Big Sky Coach of the Year award. A former player in the program from 1995-99, Sprinkle is the fourth Montana State coach to earn the award joining Roger Craft, Stu Starner and Mick Durham.
The Bobcats are currently 24-7 this season which represents the most overall victories for the program in over 70 years. MSU's 16-4 mark in league play was two games ahead of the runner-up in the conference standings and the 16 wins were four more than MSU had ever totaled in their Big Sky era.
MSU claimed the Big Sky's regular season title for the first time in 20 years and for just the fifth time ever since joining the conference in 1963-64. Sprinkle is the first coach to lead the Bobcats to three straight winning seasons in his first three years at the helm since Brick Breeden achieved the feat from 1935-38. He's the first Bobcat coach to reach 50 victories before the end of his third season in 84 years, while his current mark of 53 wins within his third season are the most by a Bobcat coach since Schubert Dyche won 66 contests in a span from 1928-31.
The Bobcats are 53-32 during Sprinkle's tenure. His .624 winning percentage is the second best among 12 coaches in the Bobcat men's team history with at least 40 victories. Sprinkle only trails Ott Romney's .829 mark that he accumulated over six seasons in the 1920s.
A season ago, Sprinkle became the first Montana State coach to lead the program to the Big Sky Championship during his first two years. Since 1996, Montana State has won 10 games at the Big Sky Conference Tournament. Seven of those wins have come with Sprinkle as either a student-athlete, an assistant coach (2006-08) or head coach (2019-22) for the Bobcats.
Belo made significant program history by claiming both the Big Sky MVP and Defensive Player of the Year honors. He's the third player in Big Sky history to earn both awards in the same season joining Joel Bolomboy of Weber State in 2016 and Seamus Boxley of Portland State in 2005.
The London, England, native is the fourth Bobcat to win MVP joining Jason Erickson (2002), Quadre Lollis (1996) and Tom Domako (1987). He's the second Bobcat to win Defensive Player of the Year with the first winner being Al Beye in 2006.
Belo leads the Big Sky in blocked shots per game (1.90) and total blocks (57) and ranks among the top 50 in the nation in both. Belo sits atop the league leaders in free throw attempts and is 13th in Division I men's basketball with 192. He's third in the Big Sky and 26th in the country with 138 free throws made. He sits in the top 10 in the league with seven rebounds per game, while he also averages 13.5 points and an assist per contest.
In his third year in the program, Belo stands at second all-time in program history with 124 blocked shots. His current total of 57 this season is third most and is six away from breaking the single-season record. Belo's 192 free throw attempts are sixth most by a Bobcat at this time and his 138 free throws rank 10th. He's currently seventh in career field goal percentage (60.6%), fifth in free throw attempts (511) and seventh in free throws made (377).
Belo became the Bobcats' 39th member of their 1,000 point club this season and he currently stands at 1,132 points. He's recorded five double-doubles this season and has scored in double digits in all but four of the games he's appeared in. Belo has six double-digit rebound games including a 16-rebound effort at Montana on Feb. 27 which was the most by an MSU player in a game since 1996. He's the only player in program history to have recorded 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 100 blocks in a college career.
The second of two Montana State Preseason All-Big Sky choices also claimed First Team All-Big Sky honors as Xavier Bishop was recognized by the league.
Bishop was a Second Team selection a season ago in his debut year as a Bobcat. MSU's scoring average leader at 13.7 points per game, Bishop also had a career-high 4.3 assists clip. He ranked among the top five players in the Big Sky in assists per game, assist/turnover ratio (1.78) and minutes per game (33:53).
A double-digit scorer in 23 games this season, Bishop is nearing the 1,800-career point mark. This year he had six 20-plus point scoring performances. He matched his career high of 28 points in the March 1 win over Southern Utah. The Springfield, Ill., native currently ranks among the top 50 active players in Division I men's basketball in career points and assists.
RaeQuan Battle improved over the course of the 2021-22 season and was honored as the Big Sky's Top Reserve, sharing the honors with Montana's Cameron Parker. Battle became just the second Bobcat recognized with the award joining Marcus Colbert in 2015.
The Tulalip, Wash., native averaged over 12 points and shot over 50% from the field in the final 14 games of the season. Battle had 11 double-digit scoring games in Big Sky play as he averaged 9.9 points, shot 48.9% from the field and 39.1% from deep. He played 18.7 minutes per contest over 20 league games. Battle also shot 87.8% from the free throw line and averaged 2.6 rebounds per contest.
In his first season at Montana State after spending two years at Washington, Battle averaged 8.4 points and 2.5 rebounds over the 31-game schedule. He matched his season high of 17 points in wins over Southern Utah (Feb. 19) and Sacramento State (March 3). Battle, who hit an eventual game-winning jumper versus Portland State on Feb. 10, helped cap MSU's regular season with a game-winning 3-pointer over Northern Colorado on March 5 that was SportsCenter's top play of the day.
Amin Adamu rounded out recognition for Montana State from the Big Sky Conference on Tuesday. Adamu was an honorable mention to the All-Big Sky team. In his third season in the program, Adamu was a Third Team selection a season ago.
The London, England, native nears the 1,000-point club at 998 career points. Adamu has been a double-digit scorer in 21 games this season. He scored a season-high 19 points while playing 38 minutes in a Jan. 9 victory over Montana. This season, Adamu averaged 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds and played over 27 minutes per appearance. He captured career bests in all shooting categories by registering a 49.4% clip from the field, 39.3% mark from 3-point range and 81.4% tally from the free throw line. Adamu played over 30 minutes in 10 contests this season.
The Big Sky All-Conference Teams and Individual Award Winners are vote on by the league's 11 head coaches. They are not allowed to vote for players on their own team.
Montana State is the top seed in the 2022 Big Sky Conference Tournament being played at Idaho Central Arena in Boise, Idaho. The Bobcats make their postseason debut this season at 12 p.m. on Thursday.
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