Bowling Green State University Athletics
Anthony Stacey Named MAC Player Of The Year
March 09, 2000 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2000
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Bowling Green senior Anthony Stacey has been named the Mid-American Conference Player of the Year for men's basketball, the league office announced Thursday afternoon (March 9). Stacey is the third Falcon in school history to win the honor.
Stacey, a 6-4 senior forward from Elyria, Ohio, led the Falcons to the MAC regular-season title, with a 14-4 league mark, and an overall record of 22-7 to date. The MAC title was BG's second in four years, but the team's first outright championship since 1983.
Currently, Stacey is averaging 17.0 points per game to rank seventh in the league. He has 5.9 rebounds per contest, good for 17th in the MAC, and also ranks among the conference leaders in field-goal percentage (46.1%, seventh), free-throw pct. (77.6%, fifth) and steals (1.86 spg, fifth).
In a 71-61 win over Kent on Feb. 16, Stacey hit a fallaway jumper early in the second half, in the process becoming the most prolific scorer in school history. He now has 1,927 points, and also holds the school's career steals record, with 225.
Stacey has posted double-digit scoring efforts in 26 of his 28 games this year, including the last 21 contests. He has had 10 games of at least 20 points, including the last three games and four of the last five contests.
Earlier this week, Stacey was named to the All-MAC First Team for the second year in a row. He has been honored by the conference in four years, having earned all-conference honorable mention as both a freshman and a sophomore. In 1995-96, Stacey was the MAC's Freshman of the Year.
Stacey joins Jim Penix (1970) and Antonio Daniels (1997) as the only BGSU players ever to win the MAC Player-of-the-Year award. Daniels currently plays for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association.
The MAC Player of the Year was chosen through balloting by the MAC News Media Association. Stacey received 23 votes to outdistance T.J. Lux of Northern Illinois (15). Marshall's Tamar Slay finished third with nine votes.
Head coach Dan Dakich finished second in the balloting for MAC Coach of the Year. Dakich received 22 votes to trail only Kent's Gary Waters (28). Toledo's Stan Joplin received six votes to place third.
Ball State's Theron Smith was named the MAC Freshman of the Year by the MAC NMA, while Miami's Rob Mestas was voted the league's Defensive Player of the Year by the MAC's 13 head coaches.
The Falcons, having won the sixth-most games in a season in school history, are hoping to be invited to the NCAA Tournament. The 64-team field will be revealed Sunday (March 12) at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time. BGSU has been to the tourney on four occasions, with the last appearance coming in 1968.
