IU East Men's Basketball wins NAIA Champions of Character Team Award
RICHMOND, Ind. -- Indiana University East men's basketball coach Mark Hester says the biggest compliments the Red Wolves received during their recent run to the Fab Four of the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Championship focused not on their play during the games, but on their character on and off of the court.
The Red Wolves got another compliment on their character this past weekend - this time in the form of the 2015-16 Buffalo Funds Five-Star Champions of Character Team Award for NAIA Division II Men's Basketball.
The award was announced April 1 during the NABC-NAIA business meeting in Houston.
The honor is the equivalent of an NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Champions of Character "national championship." The NAIA presents Five Star Champions of Character Team Awards for each of the NAIA's 23 championship sports. Teams that receive this prestigious award demonstrate in every day decisions integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership. These institutions and athletic programs strive for excellence in and out of competition and are part of communities throughout the country dedicated to character-driven intercollegiate athletics.
"It is important to incorporate character into your team because it helps shapes the values the team share," IU East senior Vasha Davis (Hammond, Ind./Morton High School) wrote in the team's award nomination materials. "It molds the team together and help keep everyone engaged at the task at hand. This year, character has a played a pivotal role of mental toughness for myself and the team going through adversity between wins and losses. I believe that having a strong character to be able to bounce back and focus on improving from game to game on what we need to work on helps tremendously."
A sampling of IU East's Champions of Character activities over the past 12 months includes:
* A visit with the students in the Third Grade Academy summer reading program during their time on the IU East campus.
* A visit with local Boy Scouts before the Red Wolves' Jan. 9 home game against Ohio Christian University.
* An appearance with several other IU East teams at the end-of-year Homework Heroes celebration at Vaile Elementary.
"The character of the student-athletes undeniably plays a huge role of the performance and chemistry of the team," Hester said. "A team composed of individuals with great character has great chemistry because every person understands that they are there for a bigger purpose than themselves. Every player knows that their teammates are willing to do whatever it takes to help them and the rest of the team succeed. The character of the team is the foundation to everything that they do. This creates great chemistry within the group because they are all working toward one common goal. That mindset also raises the level of performance."
It is the third Champions of Character Team Award for the IU East men's basketball program and the seventh for the school's athletic department. The IU East men's basketball program also received the honor in 2009 and 2011.
IU East has been a Champions of Character institution every year since joining the NAIA in 2007.