OKLAHOMA CITY – On Wednesday, the Sooner Athletic Conference announced its men's basketball Scholar-Athlete award recipients as Toni Kumanovic and Calon Woodson from Mid-America Christian were selected.
To receive SAC Scholar-Athlete honors, a player must be a junior or above by academic standing with at least a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average, appear on the eligibility certificate for an NAIA-recognized sport and have either attended two full years as a non-transfer or one full year as a transfer.
"I am so incredibly proud of Toni and Calon," said MACU Head Coach Josh Gamblin. "They are extremely hard workers who deserve all the recognition they get. I am so excited to continue to watch them grow as young men."
Of the 12 student-athletes selected by the SAC, Kumanovic was the lone student-athlete that has accumulated a 4.0 GPA and the Evangels were only one of four teams in the league to have multiple SAC Scholar-Athlete recipients.
Even though an injury prevented Kumanovic from competing during the 2019-20 season, the senior was still able to maintain an unblemished GPA while majoring in Accounting and Ethics at MACU.
During the 2018-19 season, the 6-4 guard from Zagreb, Croatia saw action in 14 games and scored 41 points. In a 118-70 win over Nebraska Christian on Nov. 24, 2018, Kumanovic scored a career-high 12 points while knocking down 10-for-11 from the free throw line.
Despite being just a junior in eligibility, Woodson was able to graduate in May from MACU with his Bachelor's of Science Degree in Biology, turning in a cumulative GPA of 3.84 and is planning to attend med school.
The Oklahoma City native was one of just four players on the team to make at least 30 starts, finishing the season with 81 points, 67 rebounds and 24 assists while consistently performing as one of MACU's best on-ball defenders.
In an 83-81 win over Wayland Baptist on Feb. 8 at the Gaulke Activity Center, Woodson went 3-for-3 from the three-point arc to score a career-high nine points. Woodson was also able to dish out a career-high four assists in a pivotal 90-86 victory over No. 22 Southwestern Assemblies of God on Jan. 18.
On the whole, the Mid-America Christian men's basketball team pieced together one of the best seasons in program-history, establishing the NAIA era record for most wins in a season after going 30-2 and won the program's second ever Sooner Athletic Conference Championship by going 19-1 in league play.
The Evangels were able to lock up their fourth-ever bid to the NAIA National Tournament as well as the team's first ever No. 1 seed, but MACU's pursuit for its second-ever NAIA National Championship was cut short due to the tournament being cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
To view the complete list of MACU's Scholar-Athlete recipients, check out the list below.
SAC Men's Basketball Scholar-Athletes
Toni Kumanovic*
Calon Woodson
*-denotes 4.0 GPA
