Sophomore guard TJ Burch was named defensive player of the year and newcomer of the year. He also was a first-team all-league pick.
Fifth-year center Michael Imariagbe was named second-team all-league, while Kellen Pickett was named freshman of the year and was joined on the all-freshman team by Michael Cooper.
Coach Clint Sargent, in his second season, was named coach of the year.
Robert Morris’ DeSean Goode was named player of the year.
“I think it’s really been a true team effort,” Sargent said. “Because of winning the regular-season title outright and the fashion we did it, I think all our players (should have been) viewed through that lens.”
Burch, a Ball State transfer, averages 11.7 points and leads the Raiders with 3.5 assists per game and is in the top five nationally in steals with a 2.6 average — despite playing only 24.4 minutes per game.
Sargent said the 6-1 Burch’s aggression sets the tone.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“He’s the tip of the spear. He’s the sharpest point of the knife we hold. He just drives our mentality. He’s fearless. He’s active. When he’s like that, we’re just a different team,” he said.
Burch is the first league defensive player of the year from Wright State since the award began in 2007-08.
“You can really feel his presence. He had great words for our team at halftime (of the 92-91 comeback win Saturday at Northern Kentucky). He’s stepping into some leadership. He’s really, really grown,” Sargent said.
Imariagbe averages 11.8 points and 7.0 rebounds. He’s had six double-doubles after getting just one in his first season with the Raiders last year.
Pickett averages 8.0 points and 5.4 rebounds and leads the team with 39 blocks.
He’s tied for the seventh-most rejections in a season in team history and needs just three to move into third.
In the 19 games since becoming a regular, the 6-9 Fort Wayne product has averaged 10.4 points and 7.3 rebounds.
Cooper, who missed four games with a sprained thumb ligament, leads the team in scoring with a 13.2 average.
Pickett and Cooper are the fifth pair of Raiders to make the five-player all-freshman team in the same season and first since Tanner Holden and Grant Basile in 2019-20.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
“What they’ve done from start to finish is really as impressive as I’ve seen,” Sargent said.
The Raiders went from 15-18 overall and 8-12 in the league last season to 20-11 (so far) and HL champs at 15-5.
Sargent deserves the bulk of the praise in how he’s created a unified culture. But he gives his assistants much of the credit.
“What I’m thankful for is the retention of our staff. It was hard to lose Cole (Gentry to Colorado State), but to have a staff that’s seen the worst parts of me — and to really go through the worst parts of me last year — and now they’re seeing new blind spots for me as a coach and a man, it’s been a difference-maker,” he said.
“I didn’t think we flinched at all with supporting each other and being aligned last year. Them completely backing what’s important to me and my vision for setting a roster and an environment that I really need to be confident, that was really the difference.”
WOMEN’S ALL-LEAGUE: Breezie Williams, a senior guard who transferred from Bryant, was named second-team all-league. She leads the Raiders in scoring (12.4) and assists (3.1) and is third in the conference in steals (2.0).
Lauren Scott won the league’s sportsmanship award.
Who: Cleveland State or IU Indy at Wright State
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
About the Author