CHICAGO (March 1, 2022) – Four members of the Loyola University Chicago men's basketball program were recognized today with All-Missouri Valley Conference accolades, highlighted by graduate student Lucas Williamson (Chicago, Ill./Whitney Young), who was tabbed MVC Defensive Player of the Year and was also a First Team All-MVC pick.
 
Also garnering accolades from the league were Braden Norris (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Bradley/Oakland), who took home Third Team All-MVC honors, Chris Knight (Madison, Wis./James Madison Memorial/Dartmouth), who received MVC All-Newcomer Team designation, and Aher Uguak (Edmonton, Alberta/Harry Ainlay/New Mexico), an MVC All-Defensive Team selection.
 
Williamson is the first player since Wichita State's Tekele Cotton in 2014 and 2015 to receive MVC Defensive Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons. The 6-foot-4 guard, who is a finalist for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award and the Julius Erving Award, joins a group of stoppers to receive the conference's top defender award on multiple occasions that includes former Loyola associate head coach and current Southern Illinois head coach Bryan Mullins.
 
The anchor of the Ramblers' defensive unit, Williamson has been a member of the MVC's All-Defensive Team three times in his career, including this year's recognition. He also captured First Team All-MVC accolades for the first time in his storied career after showcasing more of his offensive arsenal this season. Williamson has averaged 14.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game, while hitting 40.5 percent (68-for-168) of his three-point attempts in 2021-22 and he is one of only 23 players in program history to compile 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in his career.
 
Norris earned All-MVC honors for this first time in his career, capturing third team status. A preseason third team all-conference selection, Norris has been one of the top floor generals and three-point shooters in the league and provides a steadying presence in the backcourt. The 6-foot, redshirt junior quarterbacked the Loyola offense by averaging 10.1 ppg, 4.3 apg and 1.1 spg, while connecting on 42.5 percent (57-for-134) of his three-point shots. 
 
He has scored in double figures in 10 of the last 16 contests and earlier this season exploded for a career-high-tying 23 points, 14 of which came in overtime, in an 81-74, double-overtime victory against Valparaiso on January 11. His career three-point percentage (.441) ranks sixth among all active NCAA Division I players, one spot ahead of his Loyola teammate, Keith Clemons (.440). Norris becomes the sixth player that has transferred into the Loyola program to earn All-MVC honors in the last six years, joining Milton Doyle (2017), Clayton Custer (2018), Marques Townes (2019), Tate Hall (2020) and Aher Uguak (2021).
 
Meanwhile, Knight has been a key cog in the Ramblers' machine this season after transferring from Dartmouth. The 6-foot-7 forward has scored in double figures on 13 occasions, including a season-high 20 points at Valparaiso on February 16. A force at both ends of the floor, he is contributing 8.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game.
 
An efficient shooter, Knight has converted 65.8 percent (106-for-161) of his field goal tries and has a chance to shatter Aundre Jackson's single-season record of .669 set in 2016-17.
 
This marks the second straight season that the 6-foot-7 Uguak has been named to the MVC All-Defensive Team. Quick enough to guard one through five, Uguak poses matchup problems because of his size and in addition to harassing Valley players for the last few years, he has also emerged as an offensive threat.
 
The Edmonton native has been an important piece in a Loyola defensive unit that has ranked among the nation's best in each of the last four years and his efforts have helped the Ramblers limit the damage done by the likes of Isiaih Mosley, AJ Green and Ayo Dosunmu, among many others.
 
Loyola (22-7) tied for second place in the MVC standings this season, making it five straight years it has placed first or second in the regular-season league race. The fourth-seeded Ramblers, who have won 20 or more games in each of the last five seasons, open play at the MVC Championship on Friday (March 4) with a quarterfinal round game versus No. 5 seed Bradley at 2:30 p.m. CT.
 
A complete list of MVC awards winners follows.
 
First Team All-MVC
AJ Green, Northern Iowa
Isiaih Mosley, Missouri State
Gaige Prim, Missouri State
Terry Roberts, Bradley
Lucas Williamson, Loyola
 
Second Team All-MVC
Noah Carter, Northern Iowa
Tucker DeVries, Drake
Marcus Domask, Southern Illinois
Antonio Reeves, Illinois State
Garrett Sturtz, Drake
 
Third Team All-MVC
Ben Krikke, Valparaiso
Rienk Mast, Bradley
Cooper Neese, Indiana State
Braden Norris, Loyola
Roman Penn, Drake
 
MVC All-Newcomer Team
Tucker DeVries, Drake
Cameron Henry, Indiana State
Kobe King, Valparaiso
Chris Knight, Loyola
Terry Roberts, Bradley
 
MVC All-Freshman Team
Tucker DeVries, Drake
Isaac Haney, Missouri State
Connor Hickman, Bradley
Preston Ruedinger, Valparaiso
Blake Sisley, Evansville
 
MVC All-Defensive Team
Donovan Clay, Missouri State
Lance Jones, Southern Illinois
Aher Uguak, Loyola
D.J. Wilkins, Drake
Lucas Williamson, Loyola
 
Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year
AJ Green, Northern Iowa
 
MVC Newcomer of the Year
Terry Roberts, Bradley
 
MVC Freshman of the Year
Tucker DeVries, Drake
 
MVC Defensive Player of the Year
Lucas Williamson, Loyola
 
MVC Sixth Man of the Year
Bowen Born, Northern Iowa