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Kolawole gets some hardware Freshman of the Week honors for Texas native By Mike Pankow February 10, 2016
Now it’s Michael Kolawole’s turn to get in on the fun. Monday afternoon, Kolawole earned the Horizon League Freshman of the Week award after a career-best performance against first-place Valparaiso last week. Kolawole, a Rowlett, Texas, native, joined Dikembe Dixson as UIC players to be honored this season. Dixson had won six Freshman of the Week awards, including the previous two. But it was Kolawole’s time to shine after he scored a personal-best 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting in Saturday’s 73-55 loss to the Crusaders at the Pavilion. The 6-foot-5 guard posted his fifth double-digit scoring game in his last 10 contests and averages 8.8 points in 11 Horizon League games after starting the season at the end of the bench. In his last five games, Kolawole is averaging 9.4 points and 3.6 rebounds. He has been the Flames’ second-leading scorer in conference play, helping to pick up the slack after freshman Dominique Matthews (9.7 ppg) fractured his thumb against Northern Illinois on Dec. 29 and was lost for the season. “I feel like Mike is getting better all the time and playing with more confidence,” UIC coach Steve McClain said after a close loss to Green Bay on Jan. 14. “There’s no question he’s getting better every time he plays.” Kolawole also had strong outings against Youngstown State on Jan. 28 (15 points, five assists) and Milwaukee on Jan. 16 (11 points and six rebounds). He’s been a factor defensively as well, racking up 11 of his 13 steals on the season during the last six games. He averaged 22.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as a senior for Rowlett High School while earning Honorable Mention All-State. |
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