HAMMOND, Ind. – Junior captain and the team’s leading scorer Minuyard Wheeler was named the Peregrine Most Valuable Player for the 2005-06 campaign. Wheeler received the award during the Chancellor’s Reception honoring Purdue University Calumet’s basketball, dance and cheer teams.Wheeler averaged 17.3 points per game for the season and 14.6 ppg in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference games, 8th best overall. He had the second highest field goal (.549) and 3-point goal (.343) shooting percentages on the team and the 5th best 3-point shooting percentage in the conference at .462. He led the team as the high scorer on 10 occasions and scored his season-high 30 points in a win against nationally-ranked Indiana University Southeast. He also finished with 12 rebounds in the game for his first double-double of the season.

Wheeler finished the year with 504 total points and became the 17th men’s player to score 1,000 or more points in his basketball career at PUC. Wheeler also was the team’s second leading rebounder finishing with 151 total and 5.2 per game.

Sophomore center Kevin Thomas collected post-season hardware as the team’s Most Improved Player. Both Thomas and Wheeler were selected as First Team All-CCAC players this past season. Thomas averaged 9.8 ppg for the entire season and 12.9 in conference games. In rebounding, Thomas grabbed 144 total rebounds (5.5 per game) and averaged 6.4 in CCAC play, 5th best in the conference. His totals this season more than doubled his numbers in his freshman year, which contributed to his most improved player status.

Marcus Summers, a sophomore reserve guard, took home the Pride, Hustle & Desire Award. Head Coach Mike James said Summers absolutely deserved the honor. “Marcus does a lot of things that don’t always appear in statistics at the end of a game or the end of a season,” James said. “He definitely takes advantage of every minute that he plays during a game and he plays as hard during practices.”

Summers finished with 55 total points, 40 rebounds, 30 assists and 14 steals in 323 minutes of action during the season. Two of his best performances came at the end of the season against CCAC rivals University of Saint Francis and Olivet Nazarene University. Summers had a season-high six assists against USF along with five rebounds and scored a season-high 11 points against ONU.

Also receiving awards were sophomore guard Steve Polak and freshman forward Charles Cruz. Both players earned All-CCAC Honorable Mention status for the 2005-06 season.

Polak finished the season as the leader in free throw shooting percentage, steals and assists. He shot .711 from the charity stripe, had 60 steals (2.1 per game) and 72 assists (2.5 per game). He averaged 1.4 spg in conference play, 7th best. On offense, Polak was the Peregrines second leading scorer averaging 14.1 ppg overall, and 13.6 in the CCAC, 10th best. He led the Peregrines hitting .484 from the 3-point stripe and had the fourth best 3-point percentage in the CCAC hitting .474 of his shots. Polak was the team’s high scorer in seven games this past season, including a three-game stretch when he scored 77 points total (25.5 per game) and hit his season-high mark of 27 points.

Cruz earned the Top Newcomer Award and finished as the team’s leading rebounder grabbing 193 total for a 6.8 per game average. His 6.0 rpg during conference games was 8th best in the CCAC and his 4.18 defensive rebounds per game in conference was 7th best. He led the Peregrines in the rebounding department in 17 games, including his season high of 11 in two games. Cruz, the third leading scorer on the team averaging 13.5 per game, was the leading scorer and rebounder in four games this past season. His best statistical collegiate performance was against I.U. Northwest when he scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.