March 2, 2004

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today the Buena Vista University senior center Scott Weber (Audubon, Iowa/Audubon HS) has been named 2003-04 IIAC Men’s Basketball Most Valuable Player and Buena Vista head coach Brian Van Haaften has been named 2003-04 IIAC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year.

Weber ranks in the Iowa Conference’s top-15 in eight statistical categories. Entering the NCAA Tournament, he has an 18.7 point per game and 6.9 rebound per game average in 28 contests, ranking second and fourth in the IIAC in the respective categories. He has shot 56.3 percent from the floor (3rd in IIAC) and 75.8 percent from the free throw line (15th in IIAC). Weber leads the Conference in offensive rebounds (2.68/game), is tied for eight in steals per game (1.50), tied for ninth in blocked shots per game (0.64) and tied for 14th in assists per game (2.0). He led the Beavers in scoring 16 times this season and in rebounding 10 times.

In 16 Iowa Conference games, Weber led the Conference in scoring with an 18.9 point per game average and ranked third in rebounding with a 6.8 rebound per game average. He shot 56.1 percent from the floor (5th in IIAC) and 78.3 percent from the free throw line (10th in IIAC). He also ranked among the Conference leaders in offensive rebounds per game (t-3rd, 2.38), blocked shots per game (t-7th, 0.69), steals per game (t-11th, 1.44) and assists per game (t-15th, 2.0).

Van Haaften is the Iowa Conference Coach of the Year for the third straight season and for the fifth time since 1996-97. Under his direction, Buena Vista became the first IIAC team to win three straight outright Conference titles since Central won four in a row from 1977-80. The Beavers’ enter the NCAA Tournament with a 24-4 overall record and finished with a 13-3 record in Conference play. In eight years under Van Haaften, Buena Vista has won five Conference titles and finished lower than second just once.

The IIAC also announced today the Men’s Basketball All-Conference Team. The 15-member Team includes the Conference MVP, seven First Team players and seven Second Team players. All nine IIAC schools had at least one All-Conference selection led by Conference Champion Buena Vista and Cornell, with three each. Coe and Loras both had two players named to the All-Conference Team.

The complete 2003-04 IIAC All-Conference Men’s Basketball Team is here.

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