Berry named Big Sky MVP; Senglin, Bolomboy earn top honors
Weber State senior guard Davion Berry, who was named Big Sky conference MVP, poses for a portrait following practice at the Dee Events Center in Ogden Monday, March 10, 2014.(Brian Nicholson/Special to the Standard-Examiner)
Weber State senior guard Davion Berry, who was named Big Sky conference MVP, poses for a portrait following practice at the Dee Events Center in Ogden Monday, March 10, 2014.(Brian Nicholson/Special to the Standard-Examiner)
FIlE PHOTO
FIlE PHOTO
Whenever Davion Berry’s friends and family made the trip from Oakland, Calif., to Ogden or to a road game to watch him play basketball for Weber State, they wore purple shirts emblazoned with these words: DEV’S GOT GAME.
Yes, he does.
The senior guard/forward was named the Big Sky Conference MVP by a vote of the league’s coaches on Monday.
Berry averaged 19.2 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game for Weber State (17-11, 14-6), which earned the top seed and will host the Big Sky tournament Thursday through Saturday at the Dee Events Center.
Berry is the eighth Weber State player named league MVP, but most importantly to him, he achieved the same award as the friend from Oakland who was instrumental in getting him to Ogden — NBA All-Star Damian Lillard.
“It’s one of my goals that I set for myself this summer. It’s a great accomplishment to follow up in Damian’s footsteps to be MVP here at Weber State,” Berry said. “It’s an honor to play here. I couldn’t be more proud. It’s a team award. I couldn’t have done it without my teammates so I’m bringing the MVP to the Weber State basketball team, not just to me personally.”
Berry was one of four Wildcats honored for leading their team to the Big Sky regular-season championship this season.
Sophomore forward Joel Bolomboy was named Big Sky defensive player of the year and honorable mention all-conference, while guard Jeremy Senglin was named freshman of the year. Bolomboy ranks fifth in the country in rebounding, averaging 10.9 boards per game to go with 8.8 ppg, and Senglin contributed 11.3 points and 2.2 assists per game.
Senior center Kyle Tresnak was named to the all-Big Sky second team after averaging 11.3 points, tied for second on the Wildcats with Senglin, and 4.8 rebounds per game. Tresnak also led the conference in blocked shots with 1.9 per game, and ranked third in field goal percentage (.598).
Berry transferred to Weber State after being named a Division II All-American at Cal State Monterey Bay. He sat out a year due to transfer rules, then earned first-team all-conference honors in 2013-14.
Now he’s gone one step further, being recognized as the top player on the top team in the Big Sky.
“I’ve grown up a lot,” Berry said. “My days at Monterey, I really didn’t work on my craft. I came here and (Weber State) coach (Randy) Rahe told me, this is how it’s going to be, told my mom. I committed to that and I just wanted to be the best player I could be and I knew coach Rahe was going to push me to be that.”
Berry is grateful for the support of his family and hopes his 4-year-old son, Davion Jr., will someday appreciate his accomplishments.
“I can’t say enough about my mom, (Nicole Nelson). She’s a soldier. She worked two jobs for me. It’s always been me and her. I owe her the world,” Berry said. “My son, it’s good that he gets to watch this. He doesn’t know what this really means yet, but one day down the line, he’s going to understand and appreciate what kind of steps I’ve set for him. I’ve kind of set a foundation for my son; that’s big. I just want to make sure I be a good father to him, as much as I can.”
Individual awards always reflect team success, Rahe said. The coach has seen big changes in Berry since recruiting him to WSU.
“He’s come a million miles,” he said. “He really has. Not just on the court, but off the court.”
The discipline and structure of Weber State’s program was “a whole different element” for Berry when he first arrived, Rahe said.
“This year I’ve been so proud of him. I’m not too sure that I’ve had a kid mature as much as he has in the last year, year-and-a-half. He totally gave himself up for the team,” Rahe said. “His focus is on the team, his focus is on winning and once he did that, you can see the type of season he had.”
Bolomboy continues to progress, blocking 0.9 shots per game in addition to getting double-digits in rebounds in 17 of 20 league games.
“Defensively, he kind of kicked it up a notch,” Rahe said. “We asked him to, and we told him, you’ve got to rebound it at an even higher level this year for us to be successful. He’s done that. … He’s a tremendous rebounder, but he’s also a great rim-protector with his length and size.”
Senglin became the first true freshman to start a season-opener for Weber State since 1976 and started all 28 games.
“He’s like a sponge,” Rahe said. “Everything we’ve given him, he takes it and runs with it and tries to get better at it. He’s done it since Day 1 this summer.”
Senglin’s ability and coachability are the ingredients that have helped him be a good player.
“You can see the growth, almost game by game, from the preseason to conference to the middle of conference,” Rahe said. “He’s just gotten more consistent and once he became more consistent, our team became more consistent.”
Tresnak has been a steady influence on the Wildcats.
“I’m really proud of Trez,” Rahe said. “He’s gotten nothing but better and better. Every year he’s made a great jump in improvement. He’s like a poster child for what we want our program to be about. His character, his integrity, his work ethic, his selflessness, caring about his teammates before himself. All those things are program’s about. He exemplifies each and every one of those areas.”
Rahe said he believed Tresnak was going to be a first-team all-league player.
“His numbers weren’t eye-popping, but it’s because people respected him,” he said. “I’m not sure there was maybe two games all season where he didn’t get some kind of double-team ran at him. That’s a sign of respect, but it also helped our team because he was able to get other guys shots and get other guys involved.”
Contact reporter Roy Burton at rburton@standard.net. Follow him on Twitter at @RoyBurtonSE.?