# Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual award given to the Missouri Valley Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1968–69 season. It was renamed to honor Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Bird, who played at Indiana State from 1977 to 1979 and led the Sycamores to the 1979 NCAA Championship game. Bird won every major player of the year award (including the Naismith and Wooden awards) in 1979.
Drake has the most all-time winners with eight. Four current conference members have not had a winner, but three of them (Belmont, Murray State, and UIC) played their first MVC seasons in 2022–23, and the other (Valparaiso) played its first MVC season in 2017–18.
There have never been any ties for the player of the year, but there have been 10 repeat winners in the award's history. Of the repeat winners, Fred VanVleet of Wichita State (2014 and 2016) and A. J. Green of Northern Iowa (2020, 2022) won in non-consecutive years.

## Key

| † | Co-Players of the Year |
| * | Awarded a national player of the year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the MVC Player of the Year award at that point |

## Winners

| Season | Player | School | Position | Class |
| 1968–69 | Bingo Smith | Tulsa | SF | Senior |
| 1969–70 | Jim Ard | Cincinnati | C | Senior |
| 1970–71 | Jeff Halliburton | Drake | SF | Senior |
| 1971–72 | Larry Finch | Memphis | G | Junior |
| 1972–73 | Larry Kenon | Memphis | PF | Junior |
| 1973–74 | Junior Bridgeman | Louisville | SF | Junior |
| 1974–75 | Junior Bridgeman (2) | Louisville | SF | Senior |
| 1975–76 | Mike Glenn | Southern Illinois | PG | Junior |
| 1976–77 | Roger Phegley | Bradley | SG | Junior |
| 1977–78 | Larry Bird | Indiana State | SF | Junior |
| 1978–79 | Larry Bird* (2) | Indiana State | SF | Senior |
| 1979–80 | Lewis Lloyd | Drake | SF / SG | Junior |
| 1980–81 | Lewis Lloyd (2) | Drake | SF / SG | Senior |
| 1981–82 | Paul Pressey | Tulsa | PG / F | Senior |
| 1982–83 | Antoine Carr | Wichita State | C | Senior |
| 1983–84 | Xavier McDaniel | Wichita State | PF | Junior |
| 1984–85 | Xavier McDaniel (2) | Wichita State | PF | Senior |
| 1985–86 | Jim Les | Bradley | PG | Senior |
| 1986–87 | Hersey Hawkins | Bradley | SG | Junior |
| 1987–88 | Hersey Hawkins* (2) | Bradley | SG | Senior |
| 1988–89 | Anthony Manuel | Bradley | PG | Senior |
| 1989–90 | Bob Harstad | Creighton | PF | Junior |
| 1990–91 | Chad Gallagher | Creighton | C | Senior |
| 1991–92 | Ashraf Amaya | Southern Illinois | PF | Junior |
| 1992–93 | Curt Smith | Drake | PG | Junior |
| 1993–94 | Gary Collier | Tulsa | SF | Senior |
| 1994–95 | Chris Carr | Southern Illinois | SG | Junior |
| 1995–96 | Anthony Parker | Bradley | SG / SF | Junior |
| 1996–97 | Jason Daisy | Northern Iowa | PG | Senior |
| 1997–98 | Rico Hill | Illinois State | F | Senior |
| 1998–99 | Marcus Wilson | Evansville | SG / PG | Senior |
| 1999–00 | Nate Green | Indiana State | SF | Senior |
| 2000–01 | Tarise Bryson | Illinois State | PG | Junior |
| 2001–02 | Kyle Korver | Creighton | SF / SG | Junior |
| 2002–03 | Kyle Korver (2) | Creighton | SF / SG | Senior |
| 2003–04 | Darren Brooks | Southern Illinois | G | Junior |
| 2004–05 | Darren Brooks (2) | Southern Illinois | G | Senior |
| 2005–06 | Paul Miller | Wichita State | C | Senior |
| 2006–07 | Jamaal Tatum | Southern Illinois | SG | Senior |
| 2007–08 | Adam Emmenecker | Drake | PG | Senior |
| 2008–09 | Booker Woodfox | Creighton | SG | Senior |
| 2009–10 | Adam Koch | Northern Iowa | PF | Senior |
| 2010–11 | Kyle Weems | Missouri State | SF | Junior |
| 2011–12 | Doug McDermott | Creighton | SF / PF | Sophomore |
| 2012–13 | Doug McDermott (2) | Creighton | SF / PF | Junior |
| 2013–14 | Fred VanVleet | Wichita State | PG | Sophomore |
| 2014–15 | Seth Tuttle | Northern Iowa | PF | Senior |
| 2015–16 | Fred VanVleet (2) | Wichita State | PG | Senior |
| 2016–17 | Paris Lee | Illinois State | PG | Senior |
| 2017–18 | Clayton Custer | Loyola | PG | Junior |
| 2018–19 | Marques Townes | Loyola | SG | Senior |
| 2019–20 | A. J. Green | Northern Iowa | PG | Sophomore |
| 2020–21 | Cameron Krutwig | Loyola | C | Senior |
| 2021–22 | A. J. Green (2) | Northern Iowa | PG | Junior |
| 2022–23 | Tucker DeVries | Drake | SG / SF | Sophomore |
| 2023–24 | Tucker DeVries (2) | Drake | SG / SF | Junior |
| 2024–25 | Bennett Stirtz | Drake | PG | Junior |

## Winners by school

| School (year joined) | Winners | Years |
| Drake (1907) | 8 | 1971, 1980, 1981, 1993, 2008, 2023, 2024, 2025 |
| Creighton (1977) | 7 | 1990, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2009, 2012, 2013 |
| Bradley (1948) | 6 | 1977, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1996 |
| Southern Illinois (1975) | 6 | 1976, 1992, 1995, 2004, 2005, 2007 |
| Wichita State (1945) | 6 | 1983, 1984, 1985, 2006, 2014, 2016 |
| Northern Iowa (1991) | 5 | 1997, 2010, 2015, 2020, 2022 |
| Illinois State (1981) | 3 | 1998, 2001, 2017 |
| Indiana State (1977) | 3 | 1978, 1979, 2000 |
| Loyola (2013) | 3 | 2018, 2019, 2021 |
| Tulsa (1935) | 3 | 1969, 1982, 1994 |
| Louisville (1963) | 2 | 1974, 1975 |
| Memphis (1968) | 2 | 1972, 1973 |
| Cincinnati (1957) | 1 | 1970 |
| Evansville (1994) | 1 | 1999 |
| Missouri State (1990) | 1 | 2011 |
| Belmont (2022) | 0 | — |
| Murray State (2022) | 0 | — |
| UIC (2022) | 0 | — |
| Valparaiso (2017) | 0 | — |
* ↑ Creighton University left in 2013 to join the Big East Conference.
* ↑ Wichita State University left in 2017 to join the American Athletic Conference (The American).
* ↑ Loyola University Chicago left in 2022 to join the Atlantic 10 Conference.
* ↑ The University of Tulsa left in 1996 to join the Western Athletic Conference, and is now in The American.
* ↑ The University of Louisville left in 1975 to become a founding member of the Metro Conference, and is now in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
* ↑ The University of Memphis left in 1973 and briefly went independent before becoming a founding member of the Metro Conference. The school is now in The American.
* ↑ The University of Cincinnati left in 1970 to go independent, and is now in the Big 12 Conference.
* ↑ Missouri State University will leave in 2025 to join Conference USA.