Stauskas named MVP, Morgan wins four awards at U-M banquet

For the second-straight year, there wasn't much doubt about which player would take home the Bill Buntin Award as the Michigan's MVP - especially considering the fact that a Wolverine has taken home the Big Ten Player Of The Year Award in each of the last two seasons.

Sophomore Nik Stauskas was given the award Wednesday night at the 53rd annual U-M Basketball Awards Celebration banquet. On top of being the Wolverines' MVP and the Big Ten Player Of The Year, Stauskas was a first-team All-American, according to the NABC, the John R. Wooden foundation and the Lute Olson foundation.

Stauskas scored 17.5 points per game, which ranked third in the conference behind Nebraska's Terran Petteway (18.1 points per game) and Penn State's D.J. Newbill (17.8 points per game), while shooting an impressive 47.0 percent from the field and 44.2 percent from three-point range.

Stauskas also racked up a team-high 118 assists, helping the Wolverines put together the No. 3 team in the country in offensive efficiency (1.155).

With Stauskas at the helm, the Wolverines won their first outright Big Ten title since 1986, finishing 15-3 in conference play, a full three games ahead of second-place Michigan State. He was also an integral part of Michigan's run to a second-straight appearance in the Elite Eight, after advancing to the NCAA Tournament National Championship Game in 2013.

Stauskas will not be back next season to defend his MVP honor next season. He, along with fellow sophomore Glenn Robinson III, announced his intentions to enter the 2014 NBA Draft at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

In the John Beilein era, Manny Harris (2008, 2009, 2010), DeShawn Sims (2009, 2010), Darius Morris (2011), Trey Burke (2012, 2013) and now Nik Stauskas have won the team's MVP award.

Stauskas also won the Gary Grant Award For Most Assists (3.3 per game) and the Award For Outstanding Free Throw Shooting (82.4 percent).

Fifth-year senior Jordan Morgan won four team awards: The Wayman Britt Outstanding Defensive Player Award, the Thad Garner Leadership Award, the Loy Vaught Rebounding Award (5.0 per game) and the Bodnar Award For Academic Achievement, after earning his undergraduate degree in industrial and operations engineering and working toward a masters in manufacturing.

Sophomore Caris LeVert took home the Rudy Tomjanovich Most Improved Player Award, after starting all 37 games and averaging 12.9 points, 4.3 points and 2.9 assists per game last season. LeVert also earned the Steve Grote Hustle Award.

Robinson earned the Iron Man Award. Freshman guard Zak Irvin took home the team's Sixth Man Award, after playing in all 37 games and averaging 6.7 points per game while shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from three-point range.

Sophomore Spike Albrecht won the Travis Conlan Sportsmanship Award.

Here is a breakdown of all the team's honors and awards from the banquet:

Bill Buntin Most Valuable Player Award: Nik Stauskas

Wayman Britt Outstanding Defensive Player Award: Jordan Morgan

Rudy Tomjanovich Most Improved Player Award: Caris LeVert

Steve Grote Hustle Award: Caris LeVert

Thad Garner Leadership Award: Jordan Morgan

Travis Conlan Sportsmanship Award: Spike Albrecht

Bodnar Award For Academic Achievement: Jordan Morgan

Gary Grant Award For Most Assists: Nik Stauskas

Loy Vaught Rebounding Award: Jordan Morgan

Award For Outstanding Free Throw Shooting: Nik Stauskas

Sixth Man Award: Zak Irvin

Iron Man Award: Glenn Robinson III