Tanner Groves has joined some elite company.
 
The Eastern Washington University 6-foot-9 post player and Big Sky Conference MVP has been selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 6 First Team announced on Tuesday (March 16).
 
Groves, the MVP of the Big Sky Conference in the regular season and the tournament, becomes the ninth different Eagle player to be honored by the NABC, including eight since 2015. Rodney Stuckey was honored in 2006 and 2007, and since then Tyler Harvey (twice), Venky Jois (twice), Austin McBroom, Jacob Wiley, Bogdan Bliznyuk (twice), Mason Peatling and Jacob Davison have been honored. Davison, a teammate of Groves this season, was honored as a second team choice in 2020.
 
"It's huge and a great award for him," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans during the second full day of Eastern's appearance within the "bubble" at the NCAA Tournament. "He would be the first to say it's a team award – it's not about one player for a team to win games. And he has to get the ball from somebody."
 
The 2017 graduate of Spokane's Shadle Park High School ranks second in the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (8.1 per game) and field goal percentage (.557 to rank 27th in NCAA Division I), and is also fifth in scoring (16.4) and seventh in blocked shots (1.0). In Big Sky games only, he finished first in field goal percentage (.586), fourth in scoring (17.9), fifth in rebounding (7.4), eighth in free throw percentage (.843) and 11th in blocked shots (0.7).
 
In helping EWU advance to the NCAA Tournament with three wins last week at the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise, Idaho, he nearly averaged a double-double. He had  averages of 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds, and had four blocked shots and five assists while shooting at a 48 percent clip.
 
"Tanner has done a great job all year of leading our team," said Legans. "He's been one of the key catalysts in having the season we're having. I couldn't be happier for him that the coaches recognized him in this way."
 
Last year, two Eagles were honored (Peatling and Davison), and this year Legans had hoped for the same. Junior Kim Aiken Jr. was a pre-season All-Big Sky Conference selection,  and closed it as a first team All-Big Sky choice and the league's Defensive Player of the Year. He earned two-straight Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors from the league office in February.
 
The 6-7 Aiken has averaged 11.7 points (21st in the Big Sky) and 8.5 rebounds (first) thus far in his junior season. He's made 58-of-71 free throws (.817 to rank sixth in the league) and has 25 steals (1.3 per game to rank eighth), 25 blocked shots (1.1 to rank sixth) and 46 assists. In Big Sky Conference games only, Aiken led the league in rebounding (8.9) and was 18th in scoring (13.1), 10th in free throw percentage (.804), 13th in 3-pointers per game (1.53), 10th in steals (1.2) and fourth in blocked shots (1.2).
 
"We had hoped Kim could have been honored because he's done so many things defensively for our team," said Legans. "He nearly averaged a double-double and led the league in rebounds, plus shot the ball at about 40 percent in league play. We always hope other players are honored too, but Tanner is very, very deserving and is a great representative on that team for our program."
 
Legans and the team practiced Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning at the Indiana Convention Center, and will again on Wednesday and Friday. Eastern will practice Thursday at Indian Farmers Coliseum in preparation for its game there the two days later versus Kansas. The game between the third-seeded Jayhawks and the No. 14 seeded Eagles begins at 1:15 p.m. Eastern Time/10:15 a.m. Pacific Time at Indiana Farmers Coliseum and the game will be televised by TBS.
 
"It's been a weird experience to be honest," added Legans of the confinement to the team's hotel and the adjoining convention center. "But I wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
 
 
 

EWU Recipients of NABC All-District Honors

2006            Rodney Stuckey (1st team)
2007            Rodney Stuckey (1st team)
2014            Tyler Harvey (2nd team)
2015            Tyler Harvey (1st team)
2015            Venky Jois (1st team)
2016            Austin McBroom (1st team)
2016            Venky Jois (2nd team)
2017            Jacob Wiley (1st team)
2017            Bogdan Bliznyuk (2nd team)
2018            Bogdan Bliznyuk (1st team)
2020            Mason Peatling (1st team)
2020            Jacob Davison (2nd team)
2021            Tanner Groves (1st team)
 
 
 

2020-21 NABC All-District 6 Team

First Team
Fardaws Aimaq - Utah Valley
Tanner Groves - Eastern Washington
Tevian Jones - Southern Utah
Darrion Trammell - Seattle
Isiah Brown - Weber St.
 
Second Team
Asbjorn Midtgaard - Grand Canyon
Cameron Shelton - Northern Arizona
Ty Rowell - Cal Baptist
Ethan Esposito - Sacramento St.
Gorjok Gak - Cal Baptist
 
Co-Coaches of the Year: Lew Hill, UTRGV and Todd Simon, Southern Utah
 
 

 
More on Tanner Groves

 
He learned his trade under last year's MVP, and now he's taken over as the top big man in the Big Sky Conference. And he's now the MVP too. Junior Tanner Groves has had a stellar 2020-21 men's basketball season, and was rewarded as the Big Sky Conference MVP after watching teammate and fellow post player Mason Peatling earn the honor a year ago.
 
He added to his list of honors by being selected as the MVP of the Big Sky Conference Championship in Boise, Idaho, while his younger brother also earned All-Tournament accolades. Tanner nearly averaged a double-double with averages of 15.7 points and 9.7 rebounds, and had four blocked shots and five assists while shooting at a 48 percent clip.
 
Groves previously was honored on several other occasions during this season. Most recently, on March 16, he was selected to the prestigious National Association of Basketball Coaches All-District 6 first team. On Jan. 26, he was selected on the mid-season watch list for the 2020-21 Lou Henson National Player of the Year Award. He is one of 40 players listed as a candidate for the award, which is presented annually to the top mid-major player in NCAA Division I college basketball. This year's recipient will be announced in April, and the award honors the former Illinois and New Mexico State head coach who won 775 games in 41 seasons.
 
Groves was rewarded Dec. 31 by being selected to the HoopsHD.com mid-season All-Big Sky Conference team. Twice he earned Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors – the first honor coming on Dec. 21 and the second on Feb. 1 after registering a double-double with 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in a win over Sacramento State one day earlier.
 
He received the same honor the same weeks from College Sports Madness, and was also honored by CSM on Feb. 15 after averaging 21.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in a road sweep over Montana State. Included was a double-double of 26 points (equaling his career high) and 12 rebounds. He sank 68.2 percent of his field goal attempts and 3-of-5 3-point shots (37.5 percent), and all nine of his free throws. He had 15 rebounds for the weekend.
 
Groves is  currently second in the Big Sky Conference in rebounding (8.1 per game, just behind teammate Kim Aiken Jr. at 8.5) and field goal percentage (.557 to rank 27th in NCAA Division I). He is also fifth in scoring (16.4) and seventh in blocked shots (1.0). In Big Sky games only, he finished first in field goal percentage (.586), fourth in scoring (17.9), fifth in rebounding (7.4), eighth in free throw percentage (.843) and 11th in blocked shots (0.7).
 
Groves registered a pair of double-doubles in EWU's split against Northern Colorado, with the Eagles falling 78-76 in the first game on Jan. 21 and winning the second 82-76 two days later. In the second meeting with UNC, he missed his first free throw of the game, snapping his streak of 27 made free throws in a row dating back to making his last seven at Northern Arizona on Dec. 19. He made 8-of-14 to start the year, but went on a 33-of-36 tear (91.7 percent).
 
In December, Groves sank 82 percent of the shots he took in a pair of games for the Eagles, and for his efforts he was selected Dec. 21 as the Big Sky Conference Player of the Week. He earned the same honor from College Sports Madness. Groves averaged a double-double as he equaled, then broke, his career-high in scoring in two games – a narrow 80-75 loss at Saint Mary's on Dec. 15 and then an 80-64 win at Northern Arizona on Dec. 19 to open the league season. In the two games combined, Groves averaged 21.5 points and 10.0 rebounds, while also contributing four assists and two blocked shots. He sank 16-of-23 field goals for 69.6 percent and 11-of-13 free throws for 85 percent – a combined 27-of-33 for 81.8 percent. Groves hit 7-of-10 shots and 3-of-4 free throws at Saint Mary's to finish with 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots. The 6-foot-9 junior had the fourth double-double of his career, hitting 9-of-13 field goals and 8-of-9 free throws to finish with 26 points and 13 rebounds at NAU. That eclipsed his previous high of 17 on three occasions, including twice this season. His 13 boards equaled the 13 he had earlier this season at Oregon, and he also had three assists.
 
 "Tanner is a stud and our players did a great job looking for him," said Eastern head coach Shantay Legans after the NAU game. "He scored 26 but didn't shoot any threes, and he loves to shoot threes. He did a great job of getting the ball and making himself available. He's got a lot more games like that in him. I saw him go against (2019-20 Big Sky MVP) Mason Peatling in practices and we saw the flashes of what he is capable of. He's playing really, really good basketball and is very confident. You love to see that, especially out of a player with so much character, how hard he plays, how much he loves his teammates and how much he gives his team every game."
 
The aptly named "Groves Bros" – including sophomore Jacob Groves – have given Eastern a boost this season. Jacob has averaged 8.7 points and 4.0 boards as a sophomore and has made 53.9 percent of his shots. He is coming off a stellar performance in the Big Sky Conference Tournament in which he joined his brother on the All-Tournament team by averaging13.0 points and 3.3 rebounds, and sinking 77.3 percent of his attempts (17-of-22).
 
Jacob added seven points and seven rebounds in the road victory at Northern Arizona, and had 10 points in a loss at Northern Colorado on Jan. 21. He started every game for EWU from Jan. 23 to March 3, and had 11 points and a career-high three assists versus Sacramento State on Feb. 1. He scored 12 versus Idaho on Feb. 4, then had a career-high 17 points and seven boards two days later versus the Vandals.
 
Tanner scored 13 at Arizona on Dec. 5, a week after equaling what was then his career high of 17 versus Washington State. He also had nine rebounds and three assists versus the Cougars as he equaled the career high for scoring he had as a sophomore with 17 points. Jacob chipped in 10 points – all in the first half at Arizona after having a career high with 16 points at WSU. He sank 6-of-16 shots in the first start of his career, and had eight rebounds, as he eclipsed his previous high of eight points as a freshman, and his eight rebounds was also a career high as well. Versus Oregon on Dec. 7, Tanner pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds, eclipsing his previous high of 11 as a freshman.
 
Tanner came off the bench to average 5.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.6 blocks in his sophomore season, and this year helps fill the role left by 2019-20 Big Sky Conference MVP Mason Peatling. Tanner scored a career-high 17 points versus Multnomah on Dec. 13, 2019, including a rebound dunk that was the No. 1 play by ESPN's Sportscenter that night and had 2 1/2 million views. Groves also came off the bench to score 16 versus Montana State on Feb. 8, 2020, hitting 4-of-5 3-pointers.
 
Thus far in his 82-game career (26 as a starter) he's averaged 7.6 points, 4.1 boards and has 59 blocked shots to rank 11th in EWU history, while sinking 54.4 percent from the field. He enters the NCAA Tournament with nine double-doubles this season and 11 in his career (10-1 record).
 
Jacob averaged 2.5 points and 1.5 rebounds in the 24 games he played as a freshman in the 2019-20 season. His first two appearances came in victories against High Point and Belmont, and he had his high game with eight points versus Multnomah. In his 47-game career (13 as a starter), he's averaging 5.6 points and 2.7 rebounds, and has 16 steals and 28 assists.