2008-09 Men's Basketball Players of the Week

Feb 16-22
Rod Sykes (Blackburn)
Blackburn College's Rod Sykes, a junior from Danville, Ill., has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of February 16-22. This marks the third time this season he has earned the honor.

Sykes, a 6-5 forward, averaged a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds in two games played last week. He also had four assists, four steals and three blocks, while shooting 55.6 percent (20-of-36) from the field and 66.7 percent (8-of-12) from the free throw line.

Sykes had 22 points and 10 rebounds in a 85-84 loss to Greenville College. He then tallied 26 points and 12 rebounds in the Beavers 76-66 victory versus Principia College. Sykes shot 12-of-23 (.522) from the field and recorded four steals and three assists in the win.

Feb 9-15
Ryan Turk (Webster)
Webster University's Ryan Turk, a senior from Aurora, Colo. (Smoky Hill), has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of February 9-15. This marks the third time this season he has earned the honor.

Turk, a 5-9 guard, averaged 26.5 points in two games played last week. He also collected six rebounds, five assists and one steal while shooting 60.6 percent (20-of-33) from the field, 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from three-point range and 75.0 percent (3-of-4) from the charity stripe.

Turk tied his career-high 32 points in the Gorloks' 83-68 victory versus Fontbonne University. He shot 12-of-21 (.571) from the floor, including 5-of-10 (.500) from behind the arc in the win. Turk added 21 points in 20 minutes on the floor in an 86-40 win over Blackburn College. He shot 8-of-12 (.667) from the field and 5-of-8 (.625) from three-point range, while also grabbing four rebounds and dishing out two assists.

Feb 2-8
Brian Fogerty (Fontbonne)
Fontbonne University's Brian Fogerty, a senior from Winfield, Mo., has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of February 2-8.

Fogerty, a 6-5 forward, averaged a double-double last week with 22.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in two games played. He also recorded eight steals, four blocks and three assists while shooting 64.5 percent (20-of-31) from the floor and 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from the charity stripe.

Fogerty had 19 points, 11 rebounds and four steals in the Griffins' 76-50 victory on the road at Principia. He also added 26 points on 12-of-17 (.706) shooting and 10 rebounds in a 90-81 win over Maryville. Fogerty also had four steals, three blocks and three assists in the win.

Jan 26-Feb 1
Ryan Turk (Webster)
Webster University's Ryan Turk, a senior from Aurora, Colo. (Smoky Hill), has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of January 26-February 1. This is the second time this season he has earned the honor.

Turk, a 5-9 guard, averaged 23.5 points in two games played last week. He also averaged 2.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and shot 60.0 percent (15-of-25) from the field, 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from behind the arc and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the charity stripe.

Turk reached the 1,000-point career plateau in the Gorloks' 72-70 victory versus Westminster. He scored a team-high 16 points and dished out four assists in the win. Turk added 31 points, just one point shy of his career-high, in Webster's 97-80 win over MacMurray. He also added eight assists and four rebounds.

Jan 19-25
Rod Sykes (Blackburn)
Blackburn College's Rod Sykes, a junior from Danville, Ill., has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of January 19-25. He is the first men's basketball player this season to earn the honor twice.

Sykes, a 6-5 forward, averaged 20 points and 13 rebounds in two games played last week. He also tallied six steals, four assists and two blocks while shooting 44.1 percent (15-of-34) from the floor and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from the charity stripe.

Sykes recorded a double-double with 23 points and 17 rebounds in the Beavers 89-77 victory versus Principia College. Twelve of his 17 rebounds were on the defensive glass, and he shot 8-of-16 (.500) from the field and 7-of-11 (.636) from the free throw line. Sykes added 17 points and nine rebounds in Blackburn's 87-58 loss to Maryville University earlier in the week.

Jan 12-18
Jordan Kindred (Eureka)
Eureka College's Jordan Kindred, a freshman from Chrisman, Ill., has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of January 12-18.

Kindred, a 6-0 guard, led the Red Devils with a game-high 20 points in their 80-76 victory versus Webster University last week. His 20 points was a career-high, and he also made a career-high eight field goals and four three-point field goals, including shooting 5-of-6 (.833) from the field in the first half. Kindred also added three assists, two steals and one rebound in the win.

Jan 5-11
Ryan Turk (Webster)
Webster University's Ryan Turk, a senior from Aurora, Colo. (Smoky Hill), has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of January 5-11.

Turk, a 5-9 guard, averaged 24.7 points in three games played last week. He shot 53.2 percent (25-of-47) from the field, 50.0 percent (8-of-16) from behind the arc and 76.2 percent (16-of-21) from the charity stripe as the Gorloks went 2-1 on the week. Turk led Webster in scoring in all three games, including a career-high 32 points in their 82-69 victory versus Spalding University. He added 22 points as the Gorloks defeated Fontbonne University 87-84 in double overtime, and he tallied 20 points in a 68-55 loss to nationally ranked #4 Washington University-St. Louis.

Dec 22-Jan 4
Aaron Steinke (Maryville (Mo.))
Maryville University's Aaron Steinke, a senior from Ballwin, Mo. (J.F. Kennedy), has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the period of December 22-January 4.

Steinke, a 6-6 guard/forward, averaged 18.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in three games played over the winter break. He also shot 48.4 percent (15-of-31) from the field and 86.2 percent (25-of-29) from the charity stripe as the Saints went 3-0, including a 77-72 conference victory versus Eureka College.

Steinke tallied a season-high 23 points versus the Red Devils while also recording his first double-double of the season with 11 rebounds. Maryville also went 2-0 at the Surf City Classic in Irvine, Calif. Steinke had a team-high 16 points and shot 10-of-12 (.833) from the free throw line in a 76-64 victory versus Finlandia University. He also added 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists in the Saints 68-67 win over John Jay College.

Dec 15-21
Ky Millard (Westminster (Mo.))
Westminster College's Ky Millard, a junior from Columbia, Mo. (Rock Bridge), has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of December 15-21.

Millard, a 6-4 forward, scored a game-high 19 points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in leading Westminster to their seventh straight victory with a 75-65 win on the road at Central College (Iowa). He scored 13 of his 19 points in the first half and then sank 5-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final 1:22 to help secure the victory for the Blue Jays. Millard shot 71.4 percent (5-of-7) from the field, 60.0 percent (3-of-5) from three-point range, while also tallying four assists and two steals.

Dec 8-14
Patrick McCoy (Fontbonne)
Fontbonne University's Patrick McCoy, a senior from Salem, Mo., has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of December 8-14.

McCoy, a 6-0 guard, averaged 25.5 points on 63.0 percent shooting (17-of-27) from the field, 64.7 percent (11-of-17) from three point range and 100 percent (6-of-6) from the free throw line in two games played last week. He had a season-high 33 points on 10-of-13 shooting in the Griffins 97-85 victory versus Rust College. In that game he also grabbed seven rebounds and sank 7-of-9 three-point attempts. McCoy added 18 points and shot 50.0 percent (7-of-14) from the floor in Fontbonne's 89-78 loss to defending NCAA DIII National Champion Washington University-St. Louis.

Dec 1-7
Chris Forrest (Fontbonne)
Fontbonne University's Chris Forrest, a junior from Springfield, Mo. (Willard), has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of December 1-7.

Forrest, a 6-2 guard, averaged 19.5 points and shot 82.4 percent from the floor in two conference games last week. He also averaged 7.0 rebounds per game, dished out five assists, recorded one block and shot 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the charity stripe for the week.

Forrest scored 18 points on 5-of-7 (.714) shooting from the floor and 7-of-8 (.875) from the free throw line in the Griffins 75-70 victory versus Blackburn College. He then tallied 21 points on 9-of-10 (.900) shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 (.750) from the free throw line, while also grabbing five rebounds and dishing out four assists in a 75-62 win over Eureka College.

Nov 24-30
Rod Sykes (Blackburn)
Blackburn College's Rod Sykes, a junior from Danville, Ill., has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of November 24-30.

Sykes, a 6-5 forward, averaged a double-double in two games played last week. He averaged 17.5 points and 16.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 39.5 percent (15-of-38) from the field. He also dished out two assists and tallied one steal and four blocks.

Sykes hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer to help the Beavers to an 89-87 victory versus Robert Morris College-Springfield. In that game he finished with 23 points and 22 rebounds. He also added 12 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in an 106-53 loss to NCAA Division I SIU-Edwardsville.

Nov 16-23
Michael Zasada (Eureka)
Eureka College's Michael Zasada, a junior from McHenry, Ill., has been named the SLIAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of November 16-23.

Zasada, a 6-5 forward, averaged a double-double in three games played last week and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Illinois College Bill Merris Tournament. He averaged 13.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from the field, 70.0 percent from three-point range (7-of-10) and 100 percent (7-of-7) from the free throw line. He also dished out six assists and tallied four steals and three blocks.

Zasada's best performance was a 12 point, 13 rebound outing versus Earlham College in the consolation game of the Illinois College Bill Merris Tournament. It marked his first double-double of the season, as he helped the Red Devils to a 64-63 victory - their first win of the season. Zasada also had a team-high 13 points and nine rebounds versus Benedictine University (Ill.) and added 15 points and nine rebounds in a 75-57 loss to NCAA Division I opponent Western Illinois University.