Junior Neil Plank was awarded the Prairie Farms Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor at the Coach of the Year/Hall of Fame Luncheon in the Marriott Hotel Friday afternoon.
Plank, who carries a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade point average in finance, is the fourth honoree of the award, which was given to Creightons Michael Lindeman last season and Southern Illinois Kent Williams in 2002 and 2003.
Earlier this week Plank, a native of Mt. Zion, Ill., was named to the 2005 ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America University Division Mens Basketball Team and the all-conference academic team
Plank was a second-team MVC Scholar-Athlete selection in 2003-04, and is averaging 7.3 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He has played in 27 games, all as a reserve. He ranks third on the team in rebounding with 108 boards and is tied for fourth in scoring.
