Aces Colt Ryan Voted as Top Mid-Major Freshman

A few days ago Aces guard Colt Ryan was named first team all-american in the mid-major group, he gets an even greater honor this afternoon.  Collegeinsider.com names Ryan as the best Freshman Mid-Major player in the country.  Congrats to Colt.  Here is official release from UE:

It was nice that CollegeInsider.com chose the University of Evansville's Colt Ryan earlier this week for its 20-man Mid-Major Freshman All-America Team.  That's nothing compared to today's honor, however.  CollegeInsider.com has chosen Ryan as the best of the 20, selecting the 6'5" guard/forward from Batesville, Indiana as its Mid-Major Freshman of the Year.  Those eligible include all players from non-BCS schools.

"I saw the list of the 20 players a couple days ago, and there's a lot of talent in that group," Ryan said.  "For them to see me as the top player, that's a great honor.  Getting recognized like that makes me want to work even harder in the weight room and in our games during the off-season."

Ryan became the first freshman since Marcus Wilson in 1996 to lead the Purple Aces in scoring, averaging 14.5 points per game.  That was the second highest scoring average in the Missouri Valley Conference.  He was the MVC's highest scoring freshman in the past 10 years with 435 points, and he easily shattered Jason Holsinger's University of Evansville freshman scoring record.  Ryan ranked among the MVC's top 10 most of the season in steals and assists, and his 4.4 rebounds per game were the third most on UE's team. He was also chosen as the only freshman on the five-man MVC All-Newcomer Team, which included one senior and three juniors.

"That's a great honor for Colt, and a well-deserved one," according to Coach Marty Simmons.  "Colt has a combination of outstanding skills and very keen basketball knowledge.  He has also become a leader on our team, which speaks for the respect that his teammates have for him."