GLIAC -- The Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) announced the postseason awards for the 2025-26 men's basketball season on Friday.
The awards were determined by a vote of the league coaches.
Northern Michigan graduate forward Dylan Kuehl garnered two major awards, earning GLIAC Player of the Year and GLIAC Defensive Player of the Year honors. In conference games, Kuehl ranked first in scoring (23.8 ppg), third in blocked shots (1.5 bpg) and eighth in defensive rebounds (4.5 rpg).
Grand Valley State redshirt senior guard Trevor Smith Jr. earned GLIAC Sixth Man of the Year honors. Smith sparked the Lakers off the bench, scoring 12.6 points per game and led the league in assist turnover ratio (3.1).
Lake Superior State guard Karter Richards was recognized as GLIAC Freshman of the Year. The first-year Laker scored 10.5 points and pulled down 2.8 rebounds per game.
Northern Michigan's Matt Majkrzak, whose Wildcats captured a share of the regular season GLIAC crown, was honored as conference coach of the year.
The First, Second and Defensive All-GLIAC Teams for the 2025-26 men's basketball season are listed below:
First Team All-GLIAC
Ethan Alderink, Grand Valley State
Mykel Bingham, Ferris State
Jordan Briggs, Wayne State
Cal Klesmit, Northern Michigan
Dylan Kuehl, Northern Michigan
Dawson Nordgaard, Michigan Tech
Kyle Ross, Purdue Northwest
Omar Suleiman, Lake Superior State
Marcus Tomashek, Michigan Tech
Ken Walker, Davenport
Second Team All-GLIAC
Nino Carter-Smith, Lake Superior State
Jalen Charity, Grand Valley State
Jackson Dudek, Northern Michigan
Curtis Jackson, Davenport
Josiah Palmer, Parkside
Carlos Paul III, Wayne State
Trevor Smith Jr., Grand Valley State
Kevin Taylor, Purdue Northwest
Xavier Thomas, Saginaw Valley State
Paxton Warden, Parkside
All-GLIAC Defensive Team
Nate Abel, Michigan Tech
Mykel Bingham, Ferris State
Curtis Jackson, Davenport
Dylan Kuehl, Northern Michigan
Jotham Nweke, Wayne State
Gabe Smith, Michigan Tech
Trevor Smith Jr., Grand Valley State
Fawaz Surakat, Parkside
Kevonne Taylor, Saginaw Valley State
Shamus Thompson, Grand Valley State
2025-26 GLIAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
2025-26 GLIAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Dylan Kuehl, Northern Michigan
Northern Michigan’s Dylan Kuehl was named the GLIAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, cementing his status as one of the best to ever play in the conference. He is the fifth Wildcat to be named GLIAC Player of the Year, joining Max Weisbrod (2023-24) as the most recent before him, and earned All-GLIAC and All-Defensive honors for the fourth straight season. One of the most decorated players in program history, he averaged 21.3 points per game this season, ranking among the nation’s top 15 scorers, while shooting 56.7% from the field and adding 6.3 rebounds per contest. In GLIAC play, his 23.8 points per game led the conference, with a 58.6% field-goal percentage second, 1.5 blocks per game third, and 6.4 rebounds per game 10th. He capped the regular season with a career-high 41 points on 15-20 shooting, along with nine rebounds, four assists, and three blocks, earning his third GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week honor. Kuehl’s 2,089 career points rank third in program history, just 21 shy of second. With him on the floor, the Wildcats are 93-34 (.732) with four conference championships. He was recently named to the Trevor Hudgins Award Top-15 Watch List.
2025-26 GLIAC SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR
Trevor Smith Jr., Grand Valley State
Grand Valley State senior guard Trevor Smith Jr. has been named the GLIAC Sixth Man of the Year. Smith Jr. is the second Laker in program history to earn sixth man of the year honors in the GLIAC. The senior is averaging 12.3 points and leads the team shooting 51.8% from the field. Smith Jr. also leads the Lakers dishing out 92 assists for a 3.2 average. He scored a career high 21 points at Lake Superior State and a career high nine assists vs Davenport this season. Smith Jr. has scored in double figures in 23 games this season and currently ranks fifth in the country with a 3.17 assist/turnover ratio.
2025-26 GLIAC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Karter Richards, Lake Superior State
Karter Richards, a Grosse Pointe Park, Mich. native, saw a remarkable rise throughout the regular season. A rotational player during the first half of the season, he broke into the starting lineup with several excellent games in the month of January. On January 10th, in a 59-52 win at Roosevelt, Richards led the Lakers with 16 points, shooting 5-for-8 from the field and 2-for-2 from three. That started a run of four straight games scoring double-figures, which led him to the starting lineup on January 29th against Roosevelt. In that game, Richards shot 6-for-8 from the floor, scoring 13 points. Since then, he’s been a fixture in the Laker lineup. The 6’3” guard has shot over 50% from the field in each of his 11 starts to date and set his career high at 25 points in the 82-79 win at Wayne State on February 26th. That win secured the #4 seed in the GLIAC Tournament for LSSU. Richards then shot 6-for-6 against Purdue Northwest two days later in another Laker win. He grabbed seven rebounds against Wayne State, stole the ball three times and blocked a shot. Then against PNW, he tallied another three steals for LSSU. His play earned Richards his first GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, with an Honorable Mention for Offensive Player of the Week. He earned another Offensive Player of the Week Honorable Mention on January 27th, after scoring 16 points while shooting 8-of-10 from the floor at SVSU. Richards’ phenomenal play coincided with the LSSU’s fantastic run to close the season. Lake State closed the regular season by going 7-1 in February, and the Lakers entered the GLIAC Tournament on an eight game winning streak, the best in the league.
2025-26 GLIAC COACH OF THE YEAR
Matt Majkrzak, Northern Michigan
Guiding Northern Michigan to a 25-5 regular season, Matt Majkrzak was named the GLIAC Coach of the Year. It is only the third time a NMU head coach has earned the honor, joining Dean Ellis in 1993. Majkrzak previously earned the honor in 2023-24, becoming the first repeat winner in NMU history. He guided the Wildcats to a GLIAC regular-season championship, the fourth conference title of his tenure. In seven seasons, he has compiled a 133-71 record and brought four trophies back to Marquette, including regular-season titles in 2023-24 and 2025-26 and tournament championships in 2022-23 and 2024-25. Northern climbed as high as No. 10 in the NABC National Poll this season, its highest ranking since Jan. 11, 1993, and entered the postseason ranked No. 17 as the No. 1 seed in the GLIAC Tournament. Under Majkrzak, the Wildcats rank first nationally in rebounding margin (11.1), second in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.86), fourth in scoring margin (17.8), 11th in three-point percentage (38.9%), and 16th in scoring defense (65.3), establishing themselves as one of the nation’s most efficient teams.
