March 3, 2015
By: Ryan Schadewald, sports information assistant
BLUFFTON, Ohio - Bluffton junior Thayne Recker (Arlington) added another accolade into his already overflowing trophy case when the All-Heartland Conference men’s basketball team was announced. Recker earned First Team All-HCAC honors, the first Beaver to do so since Mychael Hill following the 2009-10 season.
Recker earned numerous honors throughout the 2014-15 season, including being USBWA’s National Player of the Week following his 53 points in Bluffton’s 103-102 triple overtime victory over Hanover College. The 53 points was an HCAC and Bluffton record for points in a game, as well as the most points scored in a game by a Division III player this season. Recker was also named to the D3Hoops.com team of the week twice and was HCAC Player of the Week three times this season. Following Bluffton's magical tourney run, Recker was named to the HCAC All-Tournament team after averaging 26.3 points and 10 boards per game in leading the Beavers to their first ever HCAC title game.
The junior standout averaged 21.1 points to go along with 9.8 reounds, only five rebounds shy of averaging a double-double for the season. Recker did that on 52.4 percent from the floor, as well as 79.8 percent from the charity stripe. He also averaged 2.1 assists per contest. His 21.1 points tied him with HCAC Most Valuable Player Bernard Edwards for the top spot in the conference as well as 18th in the country.
He pulled down nearly three more rebounds per game than his closest rival in the HCAC. Recker's 178 free throws surpassed the previous mark (164) that Bluffton's #3 all-time scorer Scott Bergman converted in 2005-06. He also finished with 265 rebounds this season which placed him 11th on the single season list at Bluffton.
Recker put together 13 double-doubles as a junior, bringing his career total to 19, while his 15 contests with at least 20 points gives him 20 such games heading into his senior campaign. His 121 minutes played during the HCAC Tournament capped a season in which Recker averaged a brutal 35.7 minutes per game and never fouled out of a single contest!
Recker’s 571 points on the season puts him seventh on Bluffton’s single-season scoring list. He also became just the 11th player in school history to score 1,000 or more points and grab 500 rebounds in his career with a season remaining. He currently sits at 1,106 points, which has him 20th on Bluffton’s all-time scoring list entering his senior campaign. His 563 career boards are currently 13th on the all-time list.
Bluffton senior Ryan Ebbeskotte (Delphos/Jefferson) was also recognized by the HCAC by being placed on the All-Conference Sportsmanship team for the 2014-15 season. The award has been developed as part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative. Members of the All-HCAC Sportsmanship team are selected by the coaches and their teammates as individuals who demonstrate the ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the court.
-BEAVERS-
