Illinois Basketball: Predicting the postseason awards for 2017-18
Matt Heldman “Matto” Award
The Matt Heldman “Matto” Award is given to the player who has had the highest number of “play-hard” statistics. That means this award is given to the player who hustles his butt off and gives everything on the court night in and night out. The last two seasons this award went to Maverick Morgan.
Morgan is not on the team anymore. That means the award will go to a different player this season. I am looking for a player who is willing to get on the floor when a ball is rolling or run for a loose ball that is going out of bounds. This is the type of player who will win this award.
There are three players I would nominate right now for this award. Trent Frazier, Da’Monte Williams and Mark Alstork have something to prove to the world and that is why each of them would be good candidates for this award.
Alstork is coming into the Illinois program for his final season and wants to show he belongs in Big Ten basketball. He is going to hustle to prove that point. Frazier is going to likely be the sixth man on the team and when he gets into the game he will do everything in his power to show he should be a starter.
But this award won’t go to either of these guys. I think Williams will come away with this award. He is coming off an ACL injury less than a year ago and he is a gritty player. He will do anything and everything to help this team and I think he will do great things in 2017-18.