OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The Johnson County Community College men's basketball team and NJCAA hall of fame coach Mike Jeffers announced its team MVP, Cavalier and Academic award winners for the 2019-20 season today.
Sophomore 6-10 center Lukas Milner (Olathe North HS / Olathe, Kan. was selected the team's most valuable player. The Cavalier award was given to sophomore 5-10 guard Jackson Nicodemus (Olathe Northwest HS / Olathe, Kan.) and the top academic performer was sophomore 6-2 guard Nic Slavin (Olathe South HS / Olathe, Kan.). These three were part of a squad that posted a 25-7 record, a runner-up finish at the Region VI Tournament and a top-20 national ranking in 2019-20. For their career, they helped the Cavaliers to a 56-12 mark, matching the most wins over a two-year span with the 1973-75 teams. The 2018-19 team won conference and region titles and finished runner-up at the NJCAA D-II National Tournament.
Milner earned first-team All-Kansas Jayhawk D-II Conference and All-Region VI honors in 2019-20 after ranking second on the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game., and he reached double figures 21 times. He also averaged 7.2 rebounds and eight double-digit rebound games, along with eight double-doubles. In the Cavaliers final regular season win over Kansas City Kansas, Milner posted that eight double-double, finishing with a career high 33 points, along with 10 boards. He also made 71.4 percent of his shot attempts, tops in both the conference and NJCAA. Milner also blocked 52 shots, which has him ranked eighth on the Cavaliers season chart. Three times during the campaign, Milner was selected as the conference player of the week, and was the NJCAA National Player of the Week for December 8-15, after nearly posting a triple-double with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks against No. 1-ranked North Iowa Area. For his career, Milner averaged 7.9 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks. His 82 career blocked shots ranked eighth all-time, and his final career field goal percentage of 67.2 set a new record at Johnson County. Milner will continue his player career at Boise State University.
Nicodemus played in 24 games and started twice last season. He averaged 2.8 points and registered an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.3, which tied for 15th in the conference. His freshman year he led the conference and ranked fourth in the NJCAA with a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. Last season Nicodemus also made 23 3-point baskets, fourth-best on the team, and hit 19 as a freshman for a career total of 42. Off the court, Nicodemus earned JCCC student-athlete academic honors for the fall 2019 semester.
Slavin played in all 32 games, 23 as a starting guard. He averaged 8.0 points, fifth-best on the team, and 2.1 rebounds. He shot 43.7 percent from the field (90-for-206), 37.4 percent from 3-point range (40-for-107) and 78.7 percent at the free throw line (37-for-47). Slavin led the team and ranked ninth in the conference with 40 made 3-point baskets. His 37.4 percentage beyond the arc ranked seventh in the conference. He scored in double figures 10 times in 2019-20. Slavin earned JCCC student-athlete academic honors in the fall 2019 semester, and was the team's top academic performer his freshman sophomore years.