Missouri State senior Will Creekmore has been named the 2011 Prairie Farms Scholar-Athlete of the Year.  He heads a list of 15 student-athletes honored as part of the league's scholar-athlete team.  The full team will be announced Monday, March 7.

Creekmore (C, Tulsa, Okla.) has started all 30 games this season for the 23-7 Bears of Coach Cuonzo Martin. He is second on the team in scoring at 12.0 points per game, while securing 6.5 rebounds per contest, also second on the club.  His 58.6-percent field goal accuracy ranks first in the Missouri Valley Conference.  With a 3.67 GPA in Finance, he has earned the MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week honors six times this season and is a two-time MVC All-Academic Team selection.

Last week he was named to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-America Team, announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Creekmore earned a spot on the Third Team as one of just 15 Division I men's basketball players to be recognized for excellence in the classroom and on the playing court.  He was also awarded the MVC State Farm Good Neighbor Award for the winter 2009-10 season, and was selected as the Most Valuable Player of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament in 2010, helping the Bears to the title with a double-figure scoring average and a 14-for-15 effort at the free throw line.

Creekmore is just the third MSU men's basketball player to earn Academic All-America honors, joining fellow second-teamer Chuck Williams (1971) and two-time honorable mention pick Anthony Boggs (1983-84). He is the only Missouri Valley Conference player on this year's Academic All-America team and the only player representing a Missouri program.  He is the first MSU player to earn Prairie Farms Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors -- the program began in 2002.