Five Hawks nominated for end-of-season NBL Awards

Five Illawarra Hawks are in the running for the end-of-season NBL Awards - with Tyler Harvey (Most Valuable Player) and Brian Goorjian (Coach of the Year) headlining the nominations in their respective categories.

Sam Froling (Most Improved Player), Justin Simon (Defensive Player of the Year) and Justinian Jessup (Rookie of the Year) are also finalists - with the winners announced on Wednesday 16 June in an online ceremony that will be broadcast live on ESPN from 8pm.

Andrew Gaze Most Valuable Player

Tyler Harvey (Illawarra Hawks)

Bryce Cotton (Perth Wildcats)

Nathan Sobey (Brisbane Bullets)

Harvey is a deserved nominee on the back of a standout season for the Hawks. The point guard averaged 20.44ppg for Illawarra to finish third in the scoring title behind his fellow nominees Cotton and Sobey - with the American also breaking the record for most threes made in an NBL season (114).

Lindsay Gaze Coach of the Year

Brian Goorjian (Illawarra Hawks)

Dean Vickerman (Melbourne United)

Trevor Gleeson (Perth Wildcats)

Goorjian is no stranger to this award, with the 67-year-old winning Coach of the Year honours on six occasions during his lengthy NBL tenure. Goorjian already has twice as many wins as the next most winning coaches (Lindsay Gaze and Joey Wright each have three) and he would have to be a red-hot favourite after taking the Hawks from wooden spooners to finalists in the space of 12 months. Goorjian last won the award in 2009.  

Most Improved Player

Sam Froling (Illawarra Hawks)

Finn Delany (NZ Breakers)

Jordan Hunter (Sydney Kings)

Froling has had a sophomore year to remember after starting in every one of the Hawks 36 games this season. He has surged in every single statistical category in 2021, with the big man seeing a bump in points (6 to 11.6), rebounds (3.35 to 7.05), assists (0.59 to 1.53), blocks 0.12 to 1.28) and minutes (12.6 to 27.9) in 2021. Goorjian has even touted him as a future Boomer after watching his game blosson under his watchful eye.

Damian Martin Trophy for Best Defensive Player

Justin Simon (Illawarra Hawks)

Mitch Norton (Perth Wildcats)

Tom Abercrombie (NZ Breakers)

Simon led the league with 1.86spg this season, amassing an amazing 67 swipes in just 36 games. Coach Brian Goorjian has lauded his defensive stopper on several occasions this year, with the former Windy City Bull the barometer for the second stingiest defence in the league. Simon has taken on the league's best offensive stars night after night, and has had the final hand in several memorable victories in 2021.

Rookie of the Year

Justinian Jessup (Illawarra Hawks)

Dejan Vasiljevic (Sydney Kings)

Josh Giddey (Adelaide United)

The 'Next Star' has had a memorable season in Wollongong - with his stint at the Hawks marking his first professional year out of college. Jessup got the news of a lifetime while quarantining in Australia before the beginning of the season, with the Golden State Warriors drafting him with pick 51 in the 2020 NBA Draft. He's shone as a smooth-moving shooting guard in the NBL, averaging a tick over 13ppg and one steal per contest. 

The panel of experts for the awards included Andrew Gaze, Casey Frank, Greg Davis, Olgun Uluc, Jo Healy, John Casey, Lachlan Reid, Liam Santamaria and Matt Logue.