Tomashek is Player of the Year; Buettner is Coach of the Year
GLIAC — The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced the postseason awards for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season on Friday.
The awards were determined by a vote of the league coaches.
Michigan Tech junior guard Marcus Tomashek was selected as the GLIAC Player of the Year. The GLIAC Preseason Player of the Year topped the conference in scoring (12th nationally) in 2024-25, averaging 23.1 points per game.
Lake Superior State senior forward/guard Hunter Soper was named GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year. He led the league in steals and ranked No. 2 in rebounding and No. 3 in blocked shots.
Grand Valley State sophomore guard Kaden Brown earned GLIAC Sixth Man of the Year honors. Brown led the Lakers in scoring from off the bench, averaging 13.9 points per game.
Davenport forward Matyas Vrabel was recognized as GLIAC Freshman of the Year. The first-year Panther scored 10.9 points and pulled down 6.9 rebounds per game.
Michigan Tech’s Josh Buettner, whose Huskies captured the regular season GLIAC crown, was honored as conference coach of the year
The First, Second and Defensive All-GLIAC Teams for the 2024-25 men’s basketball season are listed below:
First Team All-GLIAC
Kaden Brown, Grand Valley State
Tyson Edmondson, Lake Superior State
Ethan Erickson, Ferris State
Dylan Kuehl, Northern Michigan
Rob Lee Jr., Wayne State
Josiah Palmer, Parkside
Kingsley Perkins, Lake Superior State
Jack Rose, Parkside
Hunter Soper, Lake Superior State
Marcus Tomashek, Michigan Tech
Second Team All-GLIAC
Tamario Adley, Wayne State
Jalen Charity, Grand Valley State
William Dunn, Grand Valley State
Carmelo Harris, Wayne State
Reece Hazelton, Ferris State
Dawson Nordgaard, Michigan Tech
Forte Prater, Roosevelt
Toodles Seal, Saginaw Valley State
Enari Thomas, Roosevelt
Devin Womack, Lake Superior State
All-GLIAC Defensive Team
Tamario Adley, Wayne State
Jalen Charity, Grand Valley State
Nathan Claerbaut, Ferris State
Dylan Kuehl, Northern Michigan
Kingsley Perkins, Lake Superior State
Trevor Smith, Grand Valley State
Hunter Soper, Lake Superior State
Josh Terrian, Michigan Tech
Shamus Thompson, Grand Valley State
Ray Williams Jr., Wayne State
2024-25 GLIAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Marcus Tomashek, Michigan Tech
Marcus Tomashek, the pride of Green Bay, Wisconsin, started all 20 conference games in the regular season averaging 22 points, 4.4 rebounds and three assists per game while shooting 41.5 percent from the field (136-of-328), 36.7 percent from 3-point range (55-of-155) and 72.4 percent from the charity stripe (113-of-156). He scored in double-figures in 16 games, with six 20-point games, five 30-point games and a career-high 45-point game, the highest in the league this season. He made a team-high nine 3-pointers in his career-high against then-No. 8 Ferris State. Tomashek also was atop the GLIAC with five Offensive Player of the Week selections.
2024-25 GLIAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Hunter Soper, Lake Superior State
Hunter Soper has been selected as the 2025 GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year, marking the second consecutive year that the award has been won by an LSSU Laker. Soper, the six-time GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week, led the league in steals with 56 on the year while also finishing tied for second in blocks with 31. Soper’s 7.1 rebounds per game was also the second most in the GLIAC and was one rebound shy of the league-lead in total rebounds at 219 while having played two less games. His efforts on the defensive end of the floor also allowed him to open up his offensive game as well, creating several fast break opportunities for both himself and his teammates. Additionally, he averaged 11.5 points per game and dished out 70 assists on the season.
2024-25 GLIAC SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
Kaden Brown, Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State sophomore guard Kaden Brown has been named the GLIAC Sixth Man of the Year. Brown becomes just the second player ever and first in GVSU program history to be named the GLIAC sixth man of the year. Brown led GVSU in scoring with 13.9 points on 39% shooting from the field and 39% shooting from three. He knocked down 82 three-pointers this season which ranks fifth in GVSU single-season history. Brown tied a GVSU single-game record with eight three pointers at Indianapolis scoring a career high 32 points. He has made at least four three-pointers in 11 games this season including scoring at least 20 points in eight games.
2024-25 GLIAC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Matyas Vrabel, Davenport
Matyas Vrabel of the Davenport University men’s basketball team has been named the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Freshman of the Year. The 6-9 big man is the first Panther to earn the award since DU made the jump to NCAA Division II and joined the GLIAC ahead of the 2017-18 academic year. It marks the second time that the Panthers have had a major award winner in the conference, as Dylan Hudson-Emory won Player of the Year in the 2018-19 season.vIn his first season with Davenport, Vrabel finished the season averaging 6.9 rebounds per game, which led the squad and ranked fourth in the conference. He also averaged 10.9 points and 1.1 assists per game while shooting a team-high 53.9 percent from the floor. The Ostrava, Czech Republic native was also the only Panther to start in all 28 games this season. Vrabel finished the season on a high note, scoring a season-high 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor with eight rebounds and an assist against Roosevelt (Feb. 27).
2024-25 GLIAC COACH OF THE YEAR
Josh Buettner, Michigan Tech
Josh Buettner is in his fourth season at Michigan Tech and led the Huskies to the first outright GLIAC regular season championship for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Under his guidance, Buettner saw his Huskies squad complete eight series sweeps in the GLIAC regular season, highlighted by the first series sweep of Grand Valley State since the 2017-18 season, the first series sweep of Ferris State since the 2013-14 season, the first win at Jim Wink Arena since Feb. 4, 2015.
