ST. LOUIS – Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Luke Mailander highlighted a group of six Illinois State football first-year standouts that were named to MVFC All-Newcomer Team on Tuesday by the league office. The squad recognizes players who made immediate impacts in their first seasons at their respective schools and was voted on by the league's head coaches, media members and sports information directors.
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Joining Mailander on the 2025 MVFC All-Newcomer Team were transfer running back Victor Dawson, transfer offensive lineman Jack McGarry, transfer defensive backs Shadwel Nkuba II and La'Shavion Brown and redshirt freshman linebacker Dexter Niekamp. Of note, Nkuba finished third in the voting for the league's Newcomer of the Year award behind defensive back Kimal Clark of Indiana State and wide
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Mailander, a redshirt freshman wide receiver out of Elmhurst, Illinois, is the fifth Redbird freshman to be named the league's Freshman of the Year: QB Dusty Burk (1999), DB Tom Nelson (2005), QB Matt Brown (2009) and teammate Niekamp (2023). During the regular season, Mailander ranked second for Illinois State in yards (557) and third in receptions (34). With seven games of 50 or more receiving yards, he averaged 16.4 yards per catch and was second on the team with four receiving touchdowns. Â Mailander scored a touchdown in three-straight wins against Morehead State, Eastern Illinois and North Alabama, and he tallied a career-high 109 yards a touchdown in the win over the Panthers.Â
Dawson led ISU in rush attempts (152), rushing yards (739) and yards per game (61.6) during the regular season and had a pair of 100-plus yard efforts in back-to-back wins over UNI and Indiana State, rushing for a season-best 116 against the Sycamores. The transfer from Cincinnati also scored a touchdown in each of those contests and caught 20 passes for 91 out of the backfield for the Redbirds.
McGarry started all 11 games he played in at center for the Redbirds in his first season after transferring from Missouri. McGarry was key member of the offensive line unit that helped the Redbirds rush for 164.5 yards per game on the ground and score 32.7 points per game, which ranked in the top 30 in the FCS. The Redbirds also ranked fifth in the league in total offense at 374.8 yards per game and McGarry was a key piece of the protection team that helped the Redbirds rank in the top 15 in the country in fewest sacks allowed.
Nkuba II, also a 2025 All-MVFC First Team selection, made an immediate impact for the Redbird defense in his first season after transferring from Louisiana. Nkuba led the Valley and the team in interceptions with four during the regular season and ranked third on the team with 67 tackles, including 40 solo stops. Nkuba was also credited with a sack, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and five pass breakups and he recorded an interception in four-straight games to start the year. He earned MVFC Newcomer of the Week honors, after recording a season-best 10 tackles with a sack and 1.5 tackles-for-loss in a double overtime win over North Alabama and tallied six games with six tackles or more. Last Saturday in the first-round playoff win at Southeastern Louisiana, Nkuba picked off his fifth interception of the season to help the Redbird defensive rack up four interceptions in the win over the Lions.Â
Brown played in all 12 games at safety for the Redbirds, with 11 starts at safety following a transfer from Hutchinson Community College. Brown ranked second on the team with 70 tackles, including 36 solo stops, and was also credited with four pass breakups, one tackle-for-loss and one interception on the year during the regular season. Brown recorded a season-high nine tackles against Youngstown State and had eight tackles and a half tackle-for-loss in a win over North Alabama. In all, Brown posted six games with six or more tackles to help the Redbirds advance to the playoffs.
Niekamp played in all 12 games at outside linebacker and ranked second on the team with three sacks in his redshirt season. Niekamp finished the year with 36 total tackles, including 12 solo stops, and was credited with 5.0 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble during the regular season. The younger of the Niekamp brothers had five tackles and a half tackle-for-loss in his collegiate debut against Oklahoma and recorded a career day in a win at South Dakota State, with five tackles, two sacks and an interception against the Jackrabbits.
The Missouri Valley Football Conference will continue to announce its end-of-year honors later this week, when the league's All-Academic Team will be announced.
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