2026 Men's Basketball Special Awards and All-OAC Teams

2/27/2026 11:01:33 AM

2026 Men’s Basketball All-OAC and Special Awards 

(as voted by the league coaches) 
 

Co-Coach-of-the-Year: Jon Tropf, Ohio Northern + Andy Winters, Otterbein 

Ohio Northern first-year Head Coach Jon Tropf and Otterbein seventh-year Head Coach Andy Winters have been selected as OAC Coaches-of-the-Year, by their peers. This season the Polar Bears posted a12-4 conference record to clinch the No.5 seed in the OAC Tournament. The Cardinals secured the No. 2 seed with a 13-3 OAC record.  


Dick Reynolds Player-of-the-Year: Elijah Farrington, Mount Union  

Mount Union junior forward Elijah Farrington (Massillon, Ohio / Massillon Washington) has been voted the Dick Reynolds Player-of-the-Year. Farrington finished the regular-season averaging 15.83 points and 8.29 rebounds per game, while tallying 48 assists, 19 steals and 18 blocks. 

The Player-of-the-Year was established in 2012 in honor of Dick Reynolds for his 40 years of service and dedication as the Otterbein University Men’s Basketball Coach. 


Jim Burson Defensive Player-of-the-Year: Shaun Vaden, Mount Union  

Mount Union junior center Shaun Vaden (Cleveland, Ohio / Cornerstone Christian) has been voted the Jim Burson Defensive Player-of-the-Year. Vaden closed regular season averaging 4.36 rebounds per game, while tallying 13 steals and an impressive 85 blocks.   

The Defensive Player-of-the-Year was established in 2020 in honor of Muskingum’s Jim Burson for his 38 years of service to the Men’s Basketball program. Burson ended his tenure at Muskingum as the program’s all-time winningest basketball coach with 542 career wins and went on to become the president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). 


Freshman Player-of-the-Year: Dominic Theado, Otterbein 

Otterbein freshman forward Dominic Theado (Columbus, Ohio / Bishop Watterson) has been voted the OAC Freshman-of-the-Year. Theado finished the regular season averaging 9.28 points and 5.28 rebounds per game, while amassing 19 assists, 11 steals and eight blocks. 

 

First Team 

Name (School) 

Yr. 

Pos. 

Hometown, High School 

Elijah Farrington (Mount Union) 

Jr. 

Massillon, Ohio / Massillon Washington 

Julian Heckman (Otterbein) 

Sr. 

Reynoldsburg, Ohio / Reynoldsburg 

Chance Casenhiser (Mount Union) 

So. 

Uniontown, Ohio / Lake 

Duane Davis (Muskingum) 

Sr. 

Groveport, Ohio / Groveport Madison 

Will Miller (Ohio Northern) 

Sr. 

Ottoville, Ohio / Ottoville 

Markell Johnson-Nichols (Heidelberg) 

Jr. 

Reynoldsburg, Ohio / Pickerington Central 

Second Team 

Name, School 

Yr. 

Pos. 

Hometown, High School 

Jarius Jones (Otterbein) 

Sr. 

Blacklick, Ohio / Gahanna Lincoln 

Elijah Harden (Marietta) 

Sr. 

Sharon, Pa. / Kennedy Catholic 

Domenic Farley (Wilmington) 

Sr. 

Columbus, Ohio / Briggs High School 

Se'Ron Calloway-White (Capital) 

So. 

Reynoldsburg, Ohio / Reynoldsburg 

Aiden Harris (Ohio Northern) 

So. 

Pandora, Ohio / Pandora-Gilboa 

Owen Emig (Muskingum) 

Jr. 

Warsaw, Ohio / River View 

Honorable Mention 

Name, School 

Yr. 

Pos. 

Hometown, High School 

Elijah Cathey (Wilmington)     

So. 

Cincinnati, Ohio / Dohn Preparatory Academy 

Marcos Vazquez (Heidelberg) 

Sr. 

Cleveland, Ohio / East Tech 

Kevin Hamilton (Mount Union) 

Jr. 

Akron, Ohio / St. Vincent St. Mary 

Troy Scowden (Otterbein)          

Sr. 

Ostrander, Ohio / Buckeye Valley 

Kevin Moore (Mount Union) 

Sr. 

Youngstown, Ohio / Campbell Memorial 

Mason Wisniewski (Marietta)   

So. 

Farmington Hills, Mich. /Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 

Jake Singleton (Marietta) 

Sr. 

Senecaville, Ohio / Meadowbrook