Senior All-Americans Jelani Johnson of the men's basketball team and Maureen Wardian of the volleyball squad were honored Monday as the 2011-12 Bellevue University Athletes of the Year at the 39th Annual Bellevue University Athletics Banquet held at the Margre Durham Student Center on the BU campus.
Johnson earned third team NAIA All-American honors while leading the Bruins to a 28-6 overall record and a 13-1 MCAC mark. Bellevue finished with a No. 8 final national ranking. He helped BU claim its third-straight MCAC regular season and tournament titles while also guiding the Bruins to their 10th-straight appearance in the NAIA National Tournament.
Johnson earned MCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors and also was named to the all-MCAC first team. He averaged 12.4 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while leading the Bruins with 120 assists and 49 steals. Johnson became the 14th player in school history to score 1,000 points, finishing his BU career with 1,071 career points. Johnson finished fifth in school history with 135 career steals and sixth with 322 career assists.
Wardian capped off her Bruin career by earning second team NAIA All-American honors and was named the AVCA West Central Region player of the year as well as the MCAC player of the year. She finished her BU career ranked second in school history in blocks assists (452), third in total blocks (557), fourth in attack percentage (.315), fifth in kills (1,423), and sixth in block solos (105).
Wardian guided the Bruins to four-straight NAIA National Tournament appearances during her BU career, while also earning first-team all-MCAC accolades all four seasons. She helped Bellevue finish the 2011 season with a No. 25 final national ranking, winning the 2011 MCAC Tournament title after finishing second in the MCAC regular season.
An excellent student, Wardian garnered MCAC Scholar Athlete honors all four years and Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete accolades the past two seasons.
