Mike Muscala Named Lou Henson Player of the Year Award Candidate - BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

Mike Muscala Named Lou Henson Player of the Year Award Candidate

Fan Voting Launched at VoteLouHenson.com

Mike Muscala

Feb. 20, 2012

Vote for Mike Muscala!

LEWISBURG, Pa. –Bucknell junior center Mike Muscala (Roseville, Minn./Roseville), the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, has been named as a candidate for the 2012 Lou Henson Award, presented by CollegeInsider.com to the Division I Mid-Major player of the year.

POINT 3 Basketball and Collegeinsider.com have also announced the launch of fan voting for the award. POINT 3 will make a contribution to the general scholarship fund of the school that accumulates the most votes, and throw their student body a viewing party for the NCAA men's basketball championship. Fans can vote online at www.VoteLouHenson.com.

The award is named in honor of Lou Henson, who retired after a spectacular coaching career that lasted 41 years. When he left the game in 2005 he was sixth all-time in career Division I wins with 779. He is the winningest coach at both Illinois and New Mexico State. He is one of only 12 coaches in the history of the game to take two schools to the Final Four.

Muscala is one of 25 candidates for the award. He is averaging 16.3 points and a Patriot League-best 9.1 rebounds per game. Muscala has 13 double-doubles and 10 20-point games this season. Earlier in the year he hit the 1,000-point plateau, and he is now one of three players in program history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 150 blocked shots.

Only a junior, Muscala already ranks 13th in program history with 1,259 career points, and he is second all-time in blocked shots with 176.

Fan voting presented by POINT 3 counts for one-third of the criteria in selecting the Lou Henson Award winner. A Collegeinsider.com Selection Committee will make up the remaining two-thirds. The winner of the 2012 Lou Henson Award will be announced on March 30 in New Orleans, site of the NCAA men’s basketball championship. Butler’s Matt Howard was the recipient of the 2011 award.

Bucknell is 20-8 overall and 10-2 in the Patriot League. The Bison are back in action on Thursday at American at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network, and they can clinch the Patriot League regular-season title with a victory.

2012 Lou Henson Award Candidates:
Julian Boyd, Long Island
Isaiah Canaan, Murray State
Torrey Craig, USC Upstate
Matthew Dellavedova, St. Mary's
LaRon Dendy, Middle Tennessee
Shane Gibson, Sacred Heart
Michael Glover, Iona
Reggie Hamilton, Oakland
Orlando Johnson, UC Santa Barbara
Jarrod Jones, Ball State
Damian Lillard, Weber State
Scott Machado, Iona
C.J. McCollum, Lehigh
Doug McDermott, Creighton
Tony Mitchell, North Texas
Dominique Morrison, Oral Roberts
Kevin Murphy, Tennessee Tech
Mike Muscala, Bucknell
Kyle O'Quinn, Norfolk State
Lamarcus Reed, UT-Arlington
Zack Rosen, Penn
Gerardo Suero, Albany
Casper Ware, Long Beach State
Kyle Weems, Missouri State
Nate Wolters, South Dakota St.