Keene, a junior guard in his first season at CMU after transferring from Youngstown State, took the basketball world by storm in 2016-17, leading the nation in scoring at 30.0 points per game, the first Division I player to average 30 or more points in two decades. He set Mid-American Conference and CMU single-season records by scoring 959 points, and his 125 3-pointers was also a program high for a season. He is the only player in league history to have scored 900 points in a season.
Hall, a three time honoree, is coming off his final collegiate season in which he led the Golden Flashes to a Mid-American Conference Tournament Championship and a bid in the 2017 NCAA Tournament. On the season, Hall led the Flashes across the board with 19 points, 10.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 blocks per game. Hall's 383 rebounds is the second most ever in a single season at Kent State.
Simmons, who has started all 31 games this year, has led Ohio in assists in 28 contests in 2016-17. The Preseason All-MAC East Division selection is averaging 6.45 assists per game (200 assists) which currently ranks sixth in the nation. His 200 assists this year are the seventh-most in a single season in program history. In addition to leading Ohio in assists, Simmons also led the team in scoring (15.9 points per game).
In addition, Central Michigan’s Braylon Rayson, Eastern Michigan’s James Thompson IV, Toledo teammates Steve Taylor Jr. and Jonathan Williams and Western Michigan’s Thomas Wilder were named to the NABC All-District 14 Second Team.