The senior from Charles City, Iowa, is the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, marking the second time in the 15-year history of the award that a UNI student-athlete has been so honored (Adam Koch of UNI was honored as the recipient in 2010). Voting for the 2015 MVC Scholar-Athlete Team was conducted by league’s sports information directors.
Buss ranks fourth for UNI in scoring at 6.6 points per game and ranks third on the team with 31 3-pointers made, while connecting on 38.8 percent from long range. Earlier this year, he became the 97th player in school history to score 500 or more points (586 career points). He has scored in double figures on 11 occasions off the bench this season, and Buss has been the Panthers’ top bench scorer nine times this season.
Buss is joined on the first-team unit by Indiana State’s Justin Gant and Jake Kitchell, Missouri State’s Austin Ruder, and Evansville’s Blake Simmons. The second-team unit consists of Joe Crisman of Loyola, Tyler McCullough of Missouri State, Karl Madison of Drake, Xzavier Taylor of Bradley, and Evan Wessel of Wichita State. Four honorable-mention selections include Ka’Darryl Bell and Nate Wells of Bradley, and Max Martino and Jeremy Morgan of UNI.
The criteria for the Missouri Valley Conference’s Scholar-Athlete Team voting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade-point average (4.0 scale). Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen were not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution. He must have played in 75 percent of his team’s games.
Nate Buss, UNI, Sr., Charles City, Iowa, 3.50, General Studies
Buss ranks third on the team in scoring at 6.6 points per game … ranks third on the team with 31 3-pointers made … shooting 38.8 percent from three-point range … 97th player in school history to score 500 or more points (586 career points) … has scored in double figures on 11 occasions off the bench this season … has been the Panthers top bench scorer nine times this season.
