Darren Brooks (Southern Illinois): The former Jennings High star led Southern Illinois to its fourth-consecutive MVC regular-season title and a 25-6 record. Just named MVC Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season, Brooks is currently averaging 14.7 points, 5.1 rebounds with 137 assists and a league-high 85 steals. Brooks scored 22 points in the regular-season finale at Indiana State. Brooks was a key reserve as a freshman and three-year starter for those championship teams.
Stetson Hairston (Southern Illinois): The 6’3″ senior from Belleville East was a four-year starter on four-consecutive MVC championship teams. For the season, Hairston is averaging nearly 10 points, 3.5 rebounds while playing the tenacious, shut-down defense that has become a staple in Carbondale during their four-year championship run.
Lorenzo Gordon (Illinois State): The former Vashon standout was the top newcomer in the MVC after earning junior college All-American honors at Mineral Area College. The 6’7″ 245-pound junior averaged 16.6 points, 6.6 rebounds while shooting 53 percent from the field. He led the Redbirds from the bottom of the MVC in 2004 to a 17-12 record this season.
Tamarr Maclin (Southwest Missouri State): The powerful senior from CBC enjoyed his most productive career as a college player. The 6’7″ Maclin led SMS in scoring and rebounding, averaging 10.6 points and 7.5 rebounds a game while shooting 60 percent from the field. Maclin had a career game of 24 points and 19 rebounds against Oral Roberts on Feb. 12 in the Bracket Busters’ Game in Springfield.
Blake Ahearn (Southwest Missouri State): The 2004 MVC Freshman of the Year from DeSmet was perhaps the league’s top player off the bench in 2005. The sharpshooting sophomore averaged 10.4 points a game while shooting 40 percent from beyond the 3-point line. Ahearn continues to be one of the top free throw shooters in NCAA history. After shooting 97 percent as a freshman
Several other area athletes are playing key roles for their Missouri Valley Conference teams. Josh Warren (Borgia), Randal Falker (Gateway Tech) and Mike Dale (Belleville East) have all been big contributors to Southern Illinois’ championship effort. Redshirt freshman Sky Frazier (Borgia) is the first big man off the bench for Southwest Missouri State.
