Ohio forward Antonio Campbell was awarded MAC Player of the Year Wednesday.
Ohio men's basketball forward Antonio Campbell was awarded Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, the league announced Wednesday.
Campbell received 18 total votes, edging out Toledo's Nathan Boone (16) and Western Michigan's Thomas Wilder (2).
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Campbell joined D.J. Cooper, Gary Trent, Lewis Geter, Dave Jamerson, Paul Graham, John Devereaux, Walter Luckett and Ken Kowall as the only Ohio players to earn the honor since 1971.
"Tony's growth as a player over the course of the season was really fun to be a part of," Ohio head coach Saul Phillips said in a conference news release. "He's as versatile as any player I've ever coached."
In 30 games this season, Campbell averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds along with 58 percent shooting from the field. His 15 double-doubles led the Bobcats.
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Campbell averaged 19 points, 11 rebounds and a block during MAC play this year, including a 33-point, 11-rebound performance against Eastern Michigan on Feb. 16.
He was named to first team All-MAC honors Monday.
"It feels good, but I just want to win a MAC (title). I just want get to the NCAA Tournament," Campbell said Monday after practice when asked about his first team All-MAC honors.
Campbell helped Ohio (20-10, 11-7 MAC) to the fourth-largest turnaround in the NCAA this season, improving Ohio's record by 10 wins from its 2014-15 season.
Campbell, a junior from Cincinnati, rebuilt Ohio's program in 2015-16.
Along with the additions of Jaaron Simmons, Kenny Kaminski, Gavin Block and Jordan Dartis in the offseason, the Bobcats went from being a No. 11 seed in last year's MAC Tournament to a perennial threat.
Ohio will play No. 7 Northern Illinois on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Simmons and Dartis were recently named to All-MAC teams, respectively. The two guards, along with Phillip's implementation of analytics, aided Ohio's first-ranked offense.
The Bobcats averaged 79 points per game this season.
Akron's Keith Dambront was awarded MAC Coach of the Year, beating out Phillips and Ball States' James Whitford. Dambront earned the most total points despite being tied with Whitford at 14 first-place votes.
Phillips earned four first-place votes.
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