BGSU’s Richaun Holmes Tabbed MAC Men’s Basketball Defensive Player of the Year

Mid-American Conference Official Release

Cleveland, Ohio – BGSU senior Richaun Holmes was tabbed the 2014-15 MAC Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year, the league office announced on Tuesday morning, March 10. The 6-8 forward received the award by way of votes from the league's head coaches.

"I'm excited for Richaun. He was very deserving of the award," commented BGSU head coach Chris Jans. "Richaun is a great all-around player. That's what I love the most about him. When a lot of guys make first-team All-MAC it's because of their scoring, but Richaun has developed into an all-around player. He scores inside, he knocks three's down, he puts it on the floor, he rebounds the ball at a high level and then on the other end he's the main reason why we have been fairly successful on the defensive end."

Bowling Green's all-time career shots blocker with 239 career rejections, Holmes leads both the MAC and the Falcons with 78 blocks and an average of 2.7 blocks per game on the season.

This season, Holmes has posted a block in all but four games and has totaled a season-high five blocks in six different games this year, which has had him ranked nationally in the top-25 for most of the season in both blocked shots per game and total blocks.

The only player in BGSU men's basketball history to register over 200 career blocks, Holmes served as the backline of defense or the rim protector for a Falcons defense that finished the regular season ranked in the top-five in the MAC in scoring defense (1st/61.4 ppg), field goal percentage defense (2nd/40.7%) and three-point field goal defense (4th/32.5%).

Holmes, who was named to the All-MAC First-Team on Monday, March 9, concluded the regular season of play ranked 10th in the MAC in scoring at 14.7 points per game and tied for third in rebounding at 8.0 boards per contest for the year. The BGSU senior also ranked second in the MAC in field goal percentage at a stellar 55.7 percent on the season.

In league play, Holmes increased his scoring output to 15.1 points per game, which ranked eighth in the MAC, and shot 55.5 percent from the field overall, while grabbing 7.6 rebounds per game and swatting away an average of 2.7 shots per contest.

The Lockport, Illinois native has led Bowling Green in scoring in 15 different contests on the season and has hauled in a team-high rebounds in 21 games for the Falcons on the year. He has posted four double-doubles - at Detroit (Nov. 30), vs. Ohio (Jan. 10), vs. Eastern Michigan (Jan. 21) and vs. Miami (Feb. 18) - and six 20-plus point games, including a career-high 29 points versus Kent State on Senior Night, Mar. 3.

Holmes, who also made history this year by becoming the only Falcon in BGSU history to record 1,000 career points, 600 career rebounds and 200 career blocks, has posted double digit points 24 times this season, which included a stretch of 17 straight games with double digit points from Jan. 7 to Mar. 3.

Tabbed the MAC East Division Men's Basketball Player of the Week four times this season, the senior leads the Falcons in scoring (14.7), rebounding (8.0), field goal percentage (55.7 percent), blocked shots (78) and minutes played (28.9 per game).

Holmes is the first Falcon to win the MAC Defensive Player of the Year Award since DeMar Moore was named the Defensive Player of the Year in 1996-97.

###

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results