INDIANAPOLIS — Any doubts about high expectations for Jake Thelen this men's basketball season were answered when the Bellarmine University senior forward was targeted as a preseason All-American.

Any doubts about whether he has fulfilled those lofty expectations were answered Wednesday when the Great Lakes Valley Conference announced that Thelen has been named the conference's Player of the Year.

"He's very deserving and it's a tremendous honor coming from the best Division II basketball conference in the country," BU Head Coach Scott Davenport said. "He's an even better leader, teammate, son and person than he is a player. That speaks to his upbringing and how compassionate he is toward his teammates."

Thelen joins an elite list of Bellarmine greats who have received GLVC Player of the Year notice. The most recent to win the award was Braydon Hobbs (2012), who subsequently achieved National Player of the Year accolades. Prior to Hobbs, Jeremy Kendle was acknowledged in 2011, Tom Schurfranz in 1992, Mike Holmes in 1988 and Buddy Cox in 1984.

In addition to earning GLVC Player of the Year status, Thelen garnered first-team All-GLVC recognition along with being tabbed for the conference's All-Defensive team.

Thelen wasn't the only Knights player to receive notice. Senior point guard Chris Whitehead has also been named first-team All-GLVC after twice earning the conference's Player of the Week award and making a huge imprint on the program in his lone season at Bellarmine.

"Chris is a winner," Davenport said. "Chris would trade any individual accolades for team victories. He's all about winning, always has been and always will be. He puts team first — always."

Thelen is No. 2 Bellarmine's leading scorer (17.9) and rebounder (10.7), ranking fourth and first, respectively, in the GLVC in those categories. The native of Edgewood, Kentucky, owns a field-goal percentage of 67.1, the third-best mark in the league.

Thelen put the exclamation point on the Knights' regular-season GLVC championship by pumping in a career-high 33 points with 14 rebounds in BU's 67-54 victory over archrival Southern Indiana on senior night. It marked the 14th double-double of the season for the Covington Catholic (Ky.) High School graduate and led to his third selection this season as the GLVC Player of the Week.

Ironically, Thelen's signature performance this season arguably came in one of the team's two losses instead of occurring in one of its school-record 25 regular-season victories. On Dec. 13 against Florida Southern, which is now the top-ranked team in the country, Thelen poured in a game-high 29 points on 13-of-16 shooting and ensnared 15 rebounds in a 101-96 overtime loss.

"He's the great example of you play like you practice," Davenport said. "He brings it every single minute of every single practice. (Player of the Year) is a reward for tremendous hard work."

Whitehead leads Bellarmine in assists and is second in the GLVC at 5.2 per game. The native of nearby New Albany, Indiana, ranks second on the Knights in scoring (14.0) and is shooting 57.9 percent from the floor, an incredibly high rate of accuracy for a guard.

Of course, Whitehead is a blazingly fast ball handler who ranks among the GLVC's most dangerous threats in transition, whether he's attacking the basket for a lay-in or finding open teammates on the wing for 3-point opportunities. Before the regular-season finale, the New Albany High School product scored in double figures in a dozen straight games. Over that span, he raised his scoring average by over 4.0 points per game.

On Feb. 14 at Missouri-St. Louis, during the stretch run of Bellarmine's surge toward a regular-season conference title, Whitehead tossed in a career-high 30 points and dished out five assists with a single turnover in a critical 88-78 victory. He followed that by piling up 25 points on 11-of-12 shooting in a romp over Saint Joseph's.

"Chris deserves a lot of the credit," Davenport said of Whitehead's harmonious transition into the program. "He embraced being a team player. Chris takes a lot of pride in making other players better, and that's what extraordinary players do."

2015 GLVC Player of the Year: 
Jake Thelen, Sr., Bellarmine

2015 GLVC Freshman of the Year: 
Max Strus, G/F, Lewis

2015 GLVC Coach of the Year: 
Luke Reigel, UW-Parkside
 
First-Team All-Conference
Jake Thelen, Sr., F, BU
Chris Whitehead, Sr., G, BU
Cameron Adams, Sr., F, DU
KAMERON BUNDY, Jr., G, DU
JOE LAWSON, Sr., F/C, UINDY
Aareon Smith, Sr., F, UMSL
Seth Jackson, Sr., F/G, TSU
Reed Mells, Sr., PG, TSU
Jimmy Gavin, Jr., G, UWP
Zygimantas Riauka, Sr., F, UWP

Second-Team All-Conference
Brennan McElroy, Sr., G/F, UINDY
Ryan Jackson, Sr., G, LEWIS
Max Strus, Fr., G/F, LEWIS
Trae Pemberton, Sr., G, MU
Armon Provo, Sr., G, MU
Tylor Wimbish, Sr., F, UMSL
Evan McGaughey, So., F/C, QU
Cameron Vines, Sr., G, SJC
Andy Mazurczak, Jr., PG, UWP
D'Vante Mosby, So., F, WJC
 
All-Defensive Team
Jake Thelen, Sr., F, BU
Drake Patterson, Sr., G, DU
Brennan McElroy, Sr., G/F, UINDY
Dai-Jon Parker, Sr., G, UINDY
Julian Lewis, Sr., F, LEWIS
Dalton Hoover, Jr., F/C, QU
Reed Mells, Sr., PG, TSU
Cory Myers, So., G/PG, TSU
Zygimantas Riauka, Sr., F, UWP
 
All CAPS are Unanimous selections