By Joel Wauters/UNI Athletics
ST. LOUIS — UNI men’s basketball’s Tytan Anderson has been named the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Scholar-Athlete of the Year, as announced by the league office on Monday afternoon.
Anderson, an MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team selection, is joined by sophomore Kyle Pock, who also earned MVC Scholar-Athlete Second Team recognition.
The Panther duo are among 15 student-athletes this year for their academic excellence in the classroom, as well as on the basketball court. Illinois State led all MVC schools with three selections, with UNI, Drake and Belmont all earning two selections. UIC, Valparaiso, Indiana State, Missouri State, Bradley and Evansville all had one athlete honored.
Anderson’s selection as MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year marks the fifth time a Panther has won the league’s top academic award for men’s basketball, joining Adam Koch (2015), Nate Buss (2015) and AJ Green (2020, 2022). UNI has had at least one MVC Scholar-Athlete Team selection in each of the last 20 seasons.
The criteria for the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team voting parallels the College Sports Communicators (CSC) standards for Academic All-America nominations. To be nominated, a student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) and must have participated in at least 75 percent of his team’s games during the regular season.
Anderson, an Eldridge, Iowa native, posted a team-high 15.3 points and 6.5 rebounds per game during the regular season while shooting 57.9% from the field. Leading the Panthers with 18 total blocks, Anderson, the 2023 MVC Most Improved Team captain and two-time MVC Honor Roll recipient, is also the conference’s leader in made free throws and free throw attempts. Anderson was named the MVC Player of the Week of Dec. 30, 2024 and notably scored a career-high 27 points at both Valparaiso and Belmont this season. He has notched five games with 20+ points this year and has scored in double-digit figures in all but four contests this year, having scored at least one point in his last 96 games dating back to the 2022-23 season.
Pock, a native of Bolivar, Missouri, has appeared in 30 games for Northern Iowa this season, averaging 2.1 points per game off the bench and ten minutes a game. A 2024 MVC Honor Roll recipient, Pock scored a season-high 11 points with three made three-point baskets against St. Bonaventure at the NIT Season Tip-Off in Orlando. He is also one of five Panthers to score at least 15 three-point field goals this year.
The MVC’s All-Bench and Most Improved teams will be announced on Tuesday, March 4, while the league’s all-conference teams and specialty award winners will be announced on Wednesday morning ahead of the start of the 2025 MVC Tournament (commonly known as Arch Madness).
2025 MVC MEN’S BASKETBALL SCHOLAR-ATHLETE HONORS
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tytan Anderson (UNI)
Scholar-Athlete First Team
Tytan Anderson (UNI)
Tyler Lundblade (Belmont)
Mitch Mascari (Drake)
Filip Skobalj (UIC)
Johnny Kinziger (Illinois State)
Scholar-Athlete Second Team
Cam Manyawu (Drake)
Isaiah Walker (Belmont)
Kaspar Sepp (Valparaiso)
Samage Teel (Indiana State)
Kyle Pock (UNI)
Scholar-Athlete Third Team
Chase Martin (Missouri State)
Landon Wolf (Illinois State)
Connor Dillon (Bradley)
Dalton Banks (Illinois State)
Cam Haffner (Evansville)