MVP Harris Receives Four Team Awards at Celebration

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Highlighted by sophomore Dion Harris (Detroit, Mich./Redford HS) receiving the BILL BUNTIN MOST VALUABLE PLAYER AWARD, the University of Michigan men's basketball team honored the outstanding efforts and achievements of its players at the 44th annual U-M Basketball Awards Celebration on Saturday (April 9) at Crisler Arena.

In all, 10 players, two Wolverine fans and one manager received awards and recognition for their contributions to the program. Harris earned four awards on the night, while junior Graham Brown (Mio, Mich./Mio-AuSable HS) received three honors and senior/junior Dani Wohl (West Bloomfield, Mich./West Bloomfield HS) and sophomore Brent Petway (McDonough, Ga./Griffin HS) each garnered two awards. Fifth-year senior J.C. Mathis (Brooklyn, N.Y./John F. Kennedy HS), junior/sophomore Amadou Ba (Mauritania, Africa/Bridgton Prep [Maine]), junior Sherrod Harrell (Kalamazoo, Mich./Central HS), junior Chris Hunter (Gary, Ind./West Side HS), sophomore Courtney Sims (Roslindale, Mass./Noble & Greenough School) and freshman Ron Coleman (Romulus, Mich./Romulus HS) were also recognized during the ceremony.

In addition to the MVP award, Harris was honored with the WAYMAN BRITT OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE PLAYER, which he shared with Brown, the GARY GRANT AWARD FOR MOST ASSISTS and the IRON MAN AWARD. With all the injuries Maize and Blue lineup, Harris rotated between all three perimeter positions during the 2004-05 season. He earned All-Big Ten honorable mention honors and was named to the 2004 Preseason NIT All-Tournament Team. He has not missed a single game in his two-year career playing 65 straight games and leading the Wolverines with 14.3 points a game while scoring in double figures in 24 of 31 games. He also had seven games with 20 or more points, including a career-best 25 against Iowa (March 5). He also had career-bests in rebounding (2.8), assists (3.5) and minutes per game (36.5).

Brown, who shared the Britt Award with Harris, was also given the THAD GARNER LEADERSHIP AWARD, which he shared with fellow captain Harrell and received his third straight STEVE GROTE HUSTLE AWARD, which he shared with Dani Wohl. After missing nine games due to injury, Brown came back to start 20 of 22 games played on the season. He finished averaging. 5.5 points and a career-best 5.2 rebounds.

In addition to his Grote Award, Wohl, an Academic All-Big Ten selection, was awarded the BODNAR AWARD FOR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT for the third straight year for his efforts in the classroom.

Sims and Petway each were given the LOY VAUGHT REBOUNDING AWARD as Sims averaged a career-best 5.2 rebounds, while Petway followed with a career-best 5.4 rebounds. In addition to the rebounding award, Petway was given the RUDY TOMJANOVICH MOST IMPROVED PLAYER AWARD, which he shared with Coleman.

The TRAVIS CONLAN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD was shared by Mathis and Ba, who both continued to show their leadership and guidance on and off the floor all season long. Chris Hunter earned the AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING FREE THROW SHOOTING as he led the Wolverines with a 78.4 percentage. For the second straight season, senior manager Matt Duprey was honored as he was given the MOST OUTSTANDING MANAGER AWARD for his contribution and dedication to Michigan basketball.

The evening also featured recognition of two from the Wolverine fan base. Dottie Day received the TRUE BLUE AWARD, which is given to the Wolverine program's most outstanding fan and Ryan Shinska received the IT'S GREAT TO BE A MICHIGAN WOLVERINE FAN AWARD, which is given to the most outstanding Maize Rage fan member.

The Wolverines finished 13-18 overall with a 4-12 record in Big Ten play in head coach Tommy Amaker's fourth season.

2004-05 Award Winners

Dion Harris	Bill Buntin Most Valuable Player Award
Graham Brown Sherrod Harrell	Thad Garner Leadership Award
Graham Brown Dion Harris	Wayman Britt Defensive Player Award
Graham Brown Dani Wohl	Steve Grote Hustle Award
Brent Petway Ronald Coleman	Rudy Tomjanovich Most Improved Player Award
Brent Petway Courtney Sims	Loy Vaught Rebounding Award
Amadou Ba J.C. Mathis	Travis Conlan Leadership Award
Dion Harris	Gary Grant Award for Most Assists
Dani Wohl	Bodnar Award for Academic Achievement
Chris Hunter	Award for Outstanding Free Throw Shooting
Dion Harris	Iron Man Award
Matt Duprey	Outstanding Manager Award
Dottie Day	True Blue (Outstanding Michigan Basketball Fan Award)
Ryan Shinska	It's Great To Be A Michigan Wolverine (Outstanding Maize Rage Fan Award)