Prim Named Recipient of 2022 Virgil Cheek Award

SPRINGFIELD – Missouri State men’s basketball forward Gaige Prim (Aurora, Colo.) was announced Friday (June 17) as the recipient of the university’s 2022 Virgil Cheek Award.

The annual honor is bestowed on the graduating Missouri State University male student-athlete best demonstrating high qualities in scholarship, character, attendance, leadership and athletic performance. The award has been presented annually since 1955 and is named in honor of the long-time Missouri State faculty athletics representative and business faculty member.

Prim was a two-time NABC All-Region first-team selection and three-time All-MVC honoree for coach Dana Ford, earning All-MVC first-team honors his last two seasons. He averaged 16.3 points and 8.0 rebounds per game as a senior with 11 double-doubles in leading the Bears to a 23-win season, the club’s first NIT appearance since 2011 and an MVC regular-season runner-up showing.

He finished his Bears career with 1,338 points (15th in program history) and 627 rebounds in 86 games over three seasons in Springfield. During his tenure at MSU, he also earned MVC All-Defensive Team (2021) and MVC All-Tournament Team (2021) laurels, while earning MVC Player of the Week honors twice and MVC Newcomer of the Week distinction once. He was also a member of the MVC Honor Roll in 2020.  After his senior year, Prim was invited to participate in both the Dos Equis 3×3 National Championship as well as the highly-touted Portsmouth (Va.) Invitational.

Prim graduated in May with an undergraduate degree in General Studies.

He is the 17th men’s basketball player to earn the Virgil Cheek Award but the first since Justin Fuehrmeyer in 2010.

Voting for the Virgil Cheek Award is conducted by Missouri State’s intercollegiate athletics head coaches.

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ALL-TIME VIRGIL CHEEK AWARD RECIPIENTS
•           1955 Jerry Anderson, basketball, track
•           1956 Ron Whitaker, football
•           1957 George Simpson, track
•           1958 Max Oldham, basketball
•           1959 Russ Robinson, basketball
•           1960 Charlie Finley, football, track
•           1961 Jerry Stockard, basketball
•           1962 Carl Wilks, basketball
•           1963 Edsel Matthews, basketball
•           1964 Rich Johanningmeier, football
•           1965 Jerry Boyer, football
•           1966 Dan Young, football
•           1967 Bill Douglass, football, track
•           1968 Dennis Scott, football
•           1969 Danny Cook, baseball
•           1970 Bill Lamberson, track
•           1971 Chuck Williams, basketball
•           1972 Bob Curl, basketball, track
•           1973 Eric Thompson, basketball
•           1974 Randy Magers, basketball, baseball
•           1975 Bob Grana, football
•           1976 Kent Stringer, football
•           1977 John Prasuhn, track, cross country
•           1978 Terry Kasper, football, baseball
•           1979 Ron Snider, baseball
•           1980 Mitch Ware, football
•           1981 Bobby Biser, golf
•           1982 Mark Daniels, football
•           1983 Darrin Newbold, football
•           1984 Anthony Boggs, basketball
•           1985 Brian Smith, basketball
•           1986 Phil Schlegel, basketball
•           1987 Scott Hickox, basketball
•           1988 Preston Estes, football
•           1989 Scott Hartwig, football
•           1990 Chris Stange, basketball
•           1991 Jeff Eiserman, golf
•           1992 Tim McDuffey, football
•           1993 Chad Lakin, baseball
•           1994 Jim Prendergast, wrestling
•           1995 Chad Gardner, cross country, track
•           1996 Dan Kneeshaw, football, baseball
•           1997 Brad Barnes, soccer
•           1998 Neal McNamara, tennis
•           1999 Derek Jensen, football
•           2000 Brad St. Louis, football
•           2001 Matt White, football
•           2002 Jason Ringena, football
•           2003 Blake Boldon, cross country, track
•           2004 Rishi Garbharran, tennis
•           2005 Brad Durham, football
•           2006 Nathan Platz, soccer
•           2007 Mike Radon, football
•           2008 David Tillman, football
•           2009 Chris Playter, baseball
•           2010 Justin Fuehrmeyer, basketball
•           2011 David Arkin, football
•           2012 Heath Melugin, soccer
•           2013 Daily Young, golf
•           2014 Trevor Spangenberg, soccer
•           2015 Caleb Schaffitzel, football
•           2016 Sam Perez, baseball
•           2017 Dylan Cole, football
•           2018 Christopher Heye, swimming
•           2019 Kyle Hiebert, soccer
•           2020, Matthew Bentley, soccer
•           2021, Michael Creek, soccer
•           2022, Gaige Prim, basketball
This article is provided by Missouri State
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