KANSAS CITY, MO. – Iowa Wesleyan College senior Brett Humpal (Decorah, Iowa) became the first three-time men’s basketball All-American in school history when he was named a First Team NAIA Division II All-American for this season, as announced late Tuesday night by the NAIA.
Humpal received national honors for the third straight year, and was recognized as one of the ten members of the first team for the first time in his career after two straight years on the second team. He is the first Iowa Wesleyan men’s basketball player to garner NAIA Division II first team honors, and the first to receive the NAIA’s highest postseason honors since Joe Thimm in 1977, when the NAIA had only one division and just one team for honors.
The award for Humpal caps a brilliant career in which the senior left his mark all over the IWC record books. This year the 6-4 guard/forward had his finest season yet for the Tigers, averaging 20 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.6 steals per game. He shot a career-best 48.6% from the field and was named Midwest Collegiate Conference Player of the Year, as well as MCC Player of the Week on five occasions. He led the Tigers to a 20-11 record that ended with Wesleyan winning the MCC Tournament title and a berth in the NAIA Division II National Tournament.
“What a fantastic and deserving honor for Brett,” said IWC Head Coach Alan Magnani. “It just goes to show what a high level of perseverance and determination can do for anyone. Not only is he the first three-time men's basketball All-American in school history, but the first to be so honored as a first team selection. Awards such as these are not just reflective of the individual, but of the team as a whole.”
Humpal led the MCC in scoring this season, was second in the conference in assists and steals, and was third in rebounding. He also finished in the top 20 nationally in steals (9th), assists (15th) and scoring (20th).
For his career Humpal finished second all-time on IWC’s scoring list with 1,766 points. He also is third all-time in rebounding (761 rebounds), third in assists (367) and fourth in three-pointers made (178). He also finished with 237 steals, second-most since 1990, when records for that statistic are first available. Over his four-year career Humpal averaged 15.9 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game, despite averaging just eight minutes a game his freshman year. He also was named MCC Player of the Week 11 times.
Humpal is the 19th All-American in school history and the 12th different player to receive All-American honors. He also is the 12th All-American coached by Magnani in his 13 seasons as head coach at Wesleyan Five previous IWC players have been two-time All-Americans, most recently Adam Stringer in 2005 and 2006 (honorable mention both years).
For more information regarding the IWC basketball programs or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Complete NAIA Division II MBB All-American list
