CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The 2023-24 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) All-Conference Men’s Basketball Team as voted on by the league’s head coaches: 
 

2023-24 All-American Rivers Conference Men's Basketball Team
Most Valuable Player - Josh Van Gorp, Central
Defensive Player of the Year - Cael Schmitt, Coe
Coach of the Year - Dale Wellman, Nebraska Wesleyan University
Most Valuable Player	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Josh Van Gorp -H2 !	Central	Sr.	C	Pella, Iowa/Pella Christian
Defensive Player of the Year	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Cael Schmitt % ( @ #	Coe	Sr.	G	Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic
First Team	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Zane Neubaum & $	Buena Vista	Sr.	G	Rockwell City, Iowa/South Central Calhoun
Cael Schmitt % ( @ #	Coe	Sr.	G	Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic
TJ Schnurr #	Coe	Sr.	F	Algona, Iowa/Bishop-Garrigan Catholic
Sam Kilburg % * $	Dubuque	Sr.	G	Eldridge, Iowa/North Scott
Jaylin McCants & #	Dubuque	Jr.	G	Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg
Ali Sabet % #	Loras	Fifth Yr.	G	Glenview, Ill./Maine East
Peter Lash % #	Nebraska Wesleyan	Jr.	G	Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian School
Carter Glenn -H1	Nebraska Wesleyan	Jr.	G	Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln East
Second Team	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Gunner Reed	Buena Vista	Sr.	F	Altura, Minn./Lewiston-Altura
Kaleb Brand	Central	Sr.	G	Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon
Grant Johnson #	Central	Fifth Yr.	F	Van Meter, Iowa/Van Meter
Bennett Sherry	Coe	Jr.	F	Fitchburg, Wis./Verona Area
Brock Simon ~ & ^ -H1	Dubuque	Grad.	G	Cascade, Iowa/Cascade
Tyler Bass $	Loras	Jr.	G	Washington, Ill./Washington
Andrew Gibb -H1	Simpson	Sr.	G	Fort Dodge, Iowa/St. Edmond
Marshun Williams	Wartburg	Sr.	F	Chicago, Ill./Lindblom Math & Science Academy
Honorable Mention	School	Year	Pos.	Hometown/High School
Drew Edwards -H1	Central	Fifth Yr.	G	Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie
Dylan Anderson	Dubuque	Grad.	F	Twin Lakes, Wis./Westosha Central
Declan Ciurlik	Loras	Sr.	G	Mequon, Wis./Homestead
Jack Molstead & -H3 #	Loras	Fifth Yr.	G	Charles City, Iowa/Charles City
Daniel Webster	Luther	Sr.	G	Plano, Texas/St.Ignatius (San Francisco)
Jack Groeteke	Nebraska Wesleyan	Jr.	F	Johnston, Iowa/Dowling Catholic
Previous Honors
! - 2022-23 Most Valuable Player
@ - 2022-23 Defensive Most Valuable Player
# - 2022-23 First-Team All-Conference
$ - 2022-23 Second-Team All-Conference
-H1 - 2022-23 Honorable Mention
~ - 2021-22 Defensive Most Valuable Player
% - 2021-22 First-Team All-Conference
& - 2021-22 Second-Team All-Conference
-H2 - 2021-22 Honorable Mention
^ - 2020-21 Defensive Most Valuable Player
( - 2020-21 First-Team All-Conference
* - 2020-21 Second-Team All-Conference
-H3 - 2019-20 Honorable Mention

NOTE: The MVP shall have standing as an All-Conference player but is not a member of the first or second team. 
NOTE: The defensive player of the year is not honored as All-Conference unless selected to the first or second team by the coaches. 
 
The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) announced today its major men’s basketball awards and the 17-member All-Conference team for the 2023-24 season. Central College center Josh Van Gorp (Sr., Pella, Iowa/Pella Christian) was named the American Rivers Conference Most Valuable Player and Coe College’s guard Cael Schmitt (Sr., Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic) was voted Defensive Player of the Year. Nebraska Wesleyan head coach Dale Wellman earned the honor of American Rivers Conference men’s basketball Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career after leading the Prairie Wolves to a 13-3 finish in league play. 
 
Van Gorp is picking up his second All-Conference selection after being named honorable mention two seasons ago. He is repeating as Most Valuable Player. He is the sixth player from Central to be named Conference MVP joining Dennis Van Wyk (1977), Jeff Verhoef (1979, 1980), Steve Muller (1985), Nate Hart (1992), Miguel Ley (2010), and Matt Greenfield (2014). 
 
In 16 league contests, Van Gorp led the league in points per game with 23.3, five points ahead from second-best in the league. Additionally, he led the league in rebounding (10.4rpg) and field goal percentage (63.9%). He totaled 11 blocked shots throughout the season. He recorded a game high of 48 points on 20 made field goals on 24 attempts in one conference contest this season. On one occasion, Van Gorp grabbed 22 boards on a single night in conference action. 
 
Schmitt is just the second Coe men’s basketball student-athlete to garner Defensive Player of the Year accolades joining Adam McDermott from the 2019-20 season. Additionally, two Coe men’s basketball players picked up MVP honors in 2006 (Mike Kilburg) and 2012 (David Mataloni). This is Schmitt’s second straight Defensive Player of the Year honor. In his senior season for the Kohawks, Schmitt played in all 16 conference games, averaging 17.1 points per game and 2.0 steals per game. His points per game ranks sixth in the league and his steals is second-best, recording 32 this season. In addition to his Defensive Player of the Year nod, Schmitt found a spot on the All-Conference team, garnering first-team for the fourth year in a row. 
 
In his tenth season at the helm of the Prairie Wolves men’s basketball program, Wellman is earning his fifth Coach of the Year honor. Wellman, assisted by Mak Krause and Christopher Piscioneri, guided Nebraska Wesleyan to a 13-3 mark in the 2023-24 season. The Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves shared the regular season crown with the Coe College Kohawks in the American Rivers Conference. This was the Prairie Wolves fifth title since joining the league in 2016. 
 
The American Rivers Conference All-Conference First-Team highlighted players from five of the league’s nine schools, with seven of the eight earning at least their second all-conference honor. Six of those student-athletes are repeat first-teamers, one makes the move from second-team to first-team, and one is a first-time all-conference performer. There are three juniors, four seniors, and one fifth year that make up the first-team all-conference team this season. 
 
After earning back-to-back second-team honors the last two seasons, Buena Vista’s Zane Neubaum (Se., Rockwell City, Iowa/South Central Calhoun) has earned a spot on the first-team this season. Neubaum led the Beavers to make the conference tournament after a tough conference slate where they posted a 6-10 mark. Neubaum was the third-best in scoring through the 16 games, averaging 18.1 points per game and being the main threat for the Beavers, shooting 46% from the floor. He also grabbed an average of 4.8 rebounds per game. Additionally, he was able to grab 25 steals throughout the season to rank fifth in the league. 
 
Earning their first regular season league title since 2012, the Kohawks saw TJ Schnurr (Sr., Algona, Iowa/Bishop-Garrigan Catholic) joined Schmitt on the first-team this season. Schnurr is repeating his first-team honors from a season ago. Schnurr was an inside threat for the Kohawk offense this season averaging a league fourth-best 17.5 points per game, shooting 52.7% from the floor. Coe finished the regular season with a 13-3 record to share the league title with Nebraska Wesleyan. He ranked seventh in blocks with 12 throughout the season and eighth in rebounds per game with 6.6 per game. 
 
After posting a 11-5 mark in the A-R-C this season, the Spartans see Sam Kilburg (Sr., Eldridge, Iowa/North Scott) and Jaylin McCants (Jr., Galesburg, Ill./Galesburg) earn first-team honors. Kilburg is earning second first-team honor after earning it during the 2021-22 season. He has earned second-team honors on two occasions. Kilburg averaged 14.1 points per game for the Spartans. Additionally, he was fourth-best in the league for assists this season averaging 3.5 per game. He had the best assist-to-turnover ratio in conference play this season (2.5 ratio).  McCants earned first-team honors for the second consecutive season after earning second-team honors in 2021-22. McCants made himself known on the offensive side of the ball averaging 16.5 points per game, which was eighth-best this season. McCants found himself within the top-ten of the conference for rebounding (sixth - 6.6 per game), field goal percentage (eighth - 52%), and blocked shots (fifth - 1.0 per game). 
 
Ali Sabet (Fifth Yr., Glenview, Ill./Maine East) of Loras College is picking up his third-straight first-team all-conference accolade. In 16 conference outings, Sabet averaged 18.3 points per game, which stood second-best in the conference. He recorded a 92.9% from the charity stripe this season going 39-for-42. Additionally, he averaged 3.0 assists per game, which was eighth best in league action. 
 
Rounding out the A-R-C First-Team All-Conference selections is the duo of Peter Lash (Jr., Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian School) and Carter Glenn (Jr., Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln East) from Nebraska Wesleyan. This pair of Prairie Wolves guided them to a 13-3 record this season to become regular season co-champions. Lash ranked seventh in the league for scoring this season averaging 16.6 points per game. He found the boards, too, averaging 7.2 rebounds per game, which was good enough for third-best in the league. His other top-ten statistic came in steals where he averaged 1.4 per game, eighth best in the league. Lash is now a three-time first-team all-conference performer as a junior. Glenn was another threat to the high powering P-Wolf offense as he averaged 15.3 points per game, ninth-best in the conference. He was able to score, but he also found his teammates with ease averaging 3.3 assists per game, fifth-best in the conference with a total of 53 assists this season. He had the second-best league assist-to-turnover ratio. The junior’s best statistic comes from steals where he was the best in the conference with 35 total steals this season, averaging 2.2 per game. Glenn is earning his first all-conference honor after being named to honorable mention for the 2022-23 season. 

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