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Mar. 2, 2012 - For immediate release

GLIAC Honors: Tiffin’s Johnson Tabbed Freshman of the Year; Northwood’s Rekeweg Named Coach of the Year

BAY CITY, Mich. - Michigan Technological University junior forward Ali Haidar (Windsor, Ont./Forster) was named the 2012 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) men’s basketball “Player of the Year” in voting conducted by the league’s head coaches. Tiffin University forward Iman Johnson (Milwaukee, Wis./Dominican) was tabbed  “Freshman of the Year” while Northwood University’s Jeff Rekeweg was named “Coach of the Year” by his peers.

Haidar currently ranks third in the league in scoring, averaging 19.0 points per game, and ranks second in rebounds, averaging 9.0 per game. He led Michigan Tech to its first GLIAC North Division Title since the 2002-03 season and has tallied 14 double-doubles on the year, ninth most among D-II players this season. Haidar’s posted a record-setting performance against Ferris State in the quarterfinals of the GLIAC Tournament as he had 20 points and 26 rebounds . The 26 rebounds tied the school record and set a new GLAC Tournament record. Haidar eclipsed the 1,000 point mark after scoring a career-high 36 points at Saginaw Valley State University earlier this season. The Windsor, Ontario, native ranks eighth in the league in blocked shots per game with 1.2 and 12th in field goal percentage at 53-percent.

Johnson, a forward from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, averaged 7.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals and blocked 1.5 shots a game during his rooking campaign.  Johnson ranks fourth in blocked shots in the GLIAC and 69th in NCAA Division II. His 43 blocks is a Tiffin freshman record and ranks among the top 10 in single-season marks in school history.  He is currently fifth in steals and 11th in rebounding in the conference.

Rekeweg guided Northwood to a share of the GLIAC North Division title in just his second season as head coach.  After being picked to finish sixth in the North in the preseason poll, Northwood had an eight-game improvement over a year ago (18-10) and posted six more victories in conference play (13-7) to earn the third division title in program history.  NU also set a school record with an eight-game winning streak this season and matched the Northwood record for Division II victories in a season (16) a year after placing sixth in the GLIAC North.  Rekeweg is the third coach in school history to earn GLIAC Coach of the Year honors, joining Pat Miller (1978) and Dean Lockwood (1997) on the list.

A complete list of the 2012 All-GLIAC Basketball teams can be found below: