April 12, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
Senior Dinma Odiakosa walked away with three awards at the annual Illinois State men's basketball celebration Monday night on Doug Collins Court in Redbird Arena, including the team's most valuable player award which was voted on by his teammates.
Redbird fans were thanked with free concessions, as the Illinois State radio play-by-play voice Dick Luedke emceed the event. Head coach Tim Jankovich added a monologue and presented some awards, along with his staff of Anthony Beane, Rob Judson, Paris Parham, Kerry Darting and Brendan Reilly.
In addition to the team MVP award, Odiakosa also was honored with the most improved award and the top-rebounding award. Odiakosa, who was a first-team All-Valley selection this season, averaged 12.8 points and a league-leading 8.7 rebounds per game during the regular season for the Redbirds. He also led the conference in field goal percentage (61.1) and was the league leader in offensive rebounds per game (3.8).
Senior teammate Osiris Eldridge was presented with the top free throw shooter award, and the Doug Collins Award, which is named after the school's top scorer of all-time. Eldridge, who finished his career ranked No. 5 in Illinois State history with 1,838 career points, was a three-time All-Valley first teamer and led the league in scoring with 15.5 points per game.
Lloyd Phillips, ISU's third senior, walked away with the assist award after leading the team with 137 assists during the 2009-10 season. Junior Alex Rubin received the top three-point shooting award with his team-best 36.5 three-point shooting clip.
Following the senior presentations and the awards, the crowd, team and staff were entertained by a season highlight film narrated by Luedke and created by Redbird Productions.
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