CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa --- The 2017-18 All-Iowa Conference Men's Basketball Team as voted by the league's head coaches:

2017-18 All-Iowa Conference Men's Basketball
Co-Most Valuable Player Josh Ruggles, Jr., Loras
Co-Most Valuable Player Ryan Garver, Jr., Nebraska Wesleyan
Co-Most Valuable Player Sam Amsbaugh, Sr., Simpson
Defensive Player of the Year Ryan Garver, Jr., Nebraska Wesleyan
Coach of the Year Dale Wellman, Nebraska Wesleyan
Most Valuable Player(s)	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown / High School
Josh Ruggles	Loras	Jr.	G	Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton-Warrenville South
Ryan Garver	Nebraska Wesleyan	Jr.	F	Lincoln, Neb. / Lincoln Northeast
Sam Amsbaugh ! &	Simpson	Sr.	F	Sheffield, Iowa / West Fork
First Team	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown / High School
David Jeffries ^ ~	Buena Vista	Sr.	G	North Las Vegas, Nev. / Legacy
Kyle Smith *	Central	Sr.	F	Ionia, Iowa / New Hampton
TJ Lake	Dubuque	Sr.	G	Peosta, Iowa / Western Dubuque
Ryan DiCanio &	Loras	Jr.	G	Bartlett, Ill. / Bartlett
Cooper Cook >	Nebraska Wesleyan	Jr.	F	Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley North
Nate Schimonitz &	Nebraska Wesleyan	So.	G	Omaha, Neb. / Omaha Creighton Prep
Conor Riordan	Simpson	So.	G	Ankeny, Iowa / Ankeny
Jaran Sabus ~	Wartburg	Jr.	G	Urbandale, Iowa / Urbandale
Second Team	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown / High School
Thomas Wisecup *	Buena Vista	Sr.	G	Sergeant Bluff, Iowa / Sergeant Bluff
Jamel McKnight	Central	Jr.	G	Austin, Texas / Hendrickson
Malik Wildermuth	Central	Sr.	F	Normal, Ill. / University
Spencer Williams	Coe	Sr.	F	Monticello, Iowa / Monticello
Jamaree Atwater *	Dubuque	Sr.	F	Moline, Ill. / Moline
Deion Wells-Ross *	Nebraska Wesleyan	Sr.	F	Omaha, Neb. / Midland University
Cam Kickbush	Wartburg	Jr.	G	Reinbeck, Iowa / Gladbrook-Reinbeck
Nate Woeste # ~	Wartburg	Sr.	F	Atkins, Iowa / Benton Community
Honorable Mention	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown / High School
Billy Sparks	Buena Vista	So.	G	Las Vegas, Nev. / Northwest Career Tech Academy
Rowan McGowen	Loras	Fr.	G	Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton North
Jack Hiller	Nebraska Wesleyan	So.	G	Olathe, Kan. / Olathe East
Tyler Stumbo	Simpson	Jr.	F	Milford, Iowa / Okoboji
Previous Honors
& - 2016-17 First Team All-Conference
*- 2016-17 Second Team All-Conference
~ - 2016-17 Honorable Mention
> - 2016-17 Most Valuable Player
^ - 2016-17 Defensive Player of the Year
! - 2015-16 First Team All-Conference
@ - 2015-16 Second Team All-Conference
# - 2015-16 Honorable Mention
$ - 2014-15 First Team All-Conference
% - 2014-15 Second Team All-Conference
^ - 2014-15 Honorable Mention

The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today its major men's basketball awards and the 17-member All-Iowa Conference team for the 2017-18 season. For the first time in conference history there was a three-way tie for the league's Most Valuable Player. This year's recipients of the award are Loras' Josh Ruggles (Jr., Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton-Warrenville South), Ryan Garver (Jr., Lincoln, Neb. / Lincoln Northeast) of Nebraska Wesleyan and Simpson's Sam Amsbaugh (Sr., Sheffield, Iowa / West Fork). Garver was also voted the conference's Defensive Player of the Year. Nebraska Wesleyan University head coach Dale Wellman earned the honor of IIAC men's basketball Coach of the Year for the second-consecutive season.

Ruggles was a dominant force throughout the league's 16-game double round-robin schedule. With an average of 23.2 points per game (PPG), the Wheaton-Warrenville South prep led the conference. He also found his name atop the league's leaderboard for free throw percentage (.929), free throws made (112), three-point field goals made (57), and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.6). In Loras' 26 games this season Ruggles made 164 free throws to rank seventh in all of NCAA Division III, and his free throw percentage of 90.1% ranks eighth. He also ranks in the top 25 on the national level in three other categories: 17th in three-point field goals made with 89; 18th in three-point field goal percentage at 45.2%; 20th in three-pointers per game at 3.42; 22nd in points per game with an average of 22.4; and 21st with a 2.94 assist-to-turnover ratio.
In this his junior season, Ruggles was twice name IIAC Player of the Week and was recently named CoSIDA Academic All-District for his efforts on the court and in the classroom.

Simpson's Amsbaugh is now a three-time all-conference selection after being named to the first team the past two seasons. As a senior for the Storm Amsbaugh averaged 18.7 PPG, 7.4 rebounds per game (RPG) and 3.9 assists per game (APG) throughout the conference's 16 games. In the conference rankings, Amsbaugh stands at fourth in PPG, third in RPG and sixth in APG. His 119 total rebounds in conference play stands second in the league. Amsbaugh was once named IIAC Player of the Week in 2017-18, and that week became the 20th player in Simpson history to reach 1,000 career points. Making 144 free throws in Simpson's 25 games, Amsbaugh ranks 22nd in NCAA Division III. His season average of 19.8 PPG ranks 69th in the nation.

Since the IIAC's inception of honoring a Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year in 2010-11, Garver is just the second player to earn both accolades. The Prairie Wolf sophomore joins Dubuque's Andre Norris (2015-16) as a dual award-winner. Garver led the league in steals (43) and three-point field goal percentage (.543). He averaged 16.6 PPG and 4.9 RPG to rank eighth and 11th, respectively. Garver earned IIAC Player of the Week one time in 2017-18. He picked up the award during the week of February 4th, when the Prairie Wolves took over sole possession of first place in the conference standings. Through NWU's 27 games, Garver's 67 steals ranks 14th in NCAA Division III and his 2.48 steals per game comes in at 19th. His assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.64 is good for 35th in the country and his 60.9% from the floor ranks 30th.

In Wellman's fourth year at the helm of the Prairie Wolves' men's basketball program and second year in the Iowa Conference, he claimed the program's second regular-season title and first IIAC tournament crown. With the conference tournament championship, the Prairie Wolves earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament, where they will face Maryville College in St. Louis, Missouri at host institution WashU. Wellman led Nebraska Wesleyan to a 24-3 overall record and 13-3 in conference play. Nebraska Wesleyan led the conference in scoring offense with an average of 93.9 PPG. The Prairie Wolves created opportunities for their offense by controlling the defensive end of the court with a league-high 145 steals and 58 blocked shots. NWU also had an IIAC-best .807 free throw percentage and ranked second in field goal percentage at 51.3%.

The All-Iowa Conference first team highlighted players from seven of the league's nine schools. Buena Vista University senior guard David Jeffries (Sr., North Las Vegas, Nev. / Legacy) joins the all-conference first team for the first time in his career. A season ago he was name the league's Defensive Player of the Year and received honorable mention all-conference recognition. The Legacy prep averaged 14.2 PPG and ranked third in the conference with 27 steals.

Central College's Kyle Smith (Sr., Ionia, Iowa / New Hampton) is earning his second all-conference honor after being selected second team a season ago. Smith ranked fifth in the league with 18.1 PPG and made 48 three-pointers in conference play to rank third.

TJ Lake (Sr., Peosta, Iowa / Western Dubuque) of Dubuque became a first-time all-conference selection this season. Lake finished a stellar senior season averaging 22.8 PPG through 16 conference games to rank second in the league standings. Lake finished with a .848 free throw percentage and 51 made three-pointers to rank sixth and second, respectively, in the conference.

Ryan DiCanio (Jr., Bartlett, Ill. / Bartlett) of Loras is now a two-time member of the all-conference first-team. Averaging 16.6 PPG, DiCanio ranks eighth in the conference and his 4.8 APG stands second in the league. The Bartlett prep also added 16 steals and ranked fifth in rebounds per game with 6.6.

The 2016-17 IIAC MVP, Cooper Cook (Jr., Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley North) of Nebraska Wesleyan, was named to the first team in this his junior season. The Blue Valley North prep turned in another outstanding IIAC season, finishing second in the conference with 25 blocked shots. In 16 league contests he averaged 14.8 PPG and 5.1 RPG. Prairie Wolf teammate Nate Schimonitz (So., Omaha, Neb. / Omaha Creighton Prep) earned his second first-team accolade in just his sophomore year. Schimonitz averaged 4.8 APG to lead the conference and 1.4 steals per game to rank fifth. He put up 16.1 PPG and had the fourth-best assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.5.

Simpson's Conor Riordan (So., Ankeny, Iowa / Ankeny) made a name for himself in his sophomore season, averaging 21.4 PPG to finish third in the IIAC rankings. He ranked second in assist-to-turnover ratio with 3.4 and finished eighth in the league rankings with a .544 FG% and an average of 2.1 three-pointers per game.

After receiving honorable mention recognition a season ago, Wartburg's Jaran Sabus (Jr., Urbandale, Iowa / Urbandale) is now a member of the first team. The Urbandale prep converted 51.4% from three-point range to rank second in the IIAC and averaged 17.0 PPG for seventh-best. On the boards he averaged 5.4 RPG, which stands ninth in the conference.

The 17-member team includes seven who are earning at least their second all-conference honor with one a three-time first-team honoree. This year's three-time first-team recipient is Simpson's Amsbaugh (First Team: 2017-18, 2016-17, 2015-16). DiCanio of Loras and Nebraska Wesleyan's Schimonitz are each earning their second-consecutive first-team honor. DiCanio only a junior will look to become a three-time recipient next season, while Schimonitz has two seasons remaining. NWU's Cook became a two-time all-conference performer in this his junior season. Last year he was named the League's MVP and this season was a first-team honoree. Smith of Central closes out his senior year as a two-time award-winner (2017-18 first team, 2016-17 second team). Buena Vista's Thomas Wisecup became a two-time second-team selection this season (second team 2017-18, 2016-17) as did Dubuque's Jamaree Atwater (second team 2017-18, 2016-17) and NWU's Deion Wells-Ross (second team 2017-18, 2016-17).

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