Muskingum men's basketball freshman Marcus Dempsey was honored for his stellar season by being named the D3hoops.com Great Lakes Region Rookie of the Year. He is the first Muskie to receive the recognition since the inception of the award in 2006-07.

Dempsey, the Ohio Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Freshman of the Year, started 26 games and averaged 16.4 points per outing. He averaged 34.9 minutes per contest and ended his freshman campaign with 442 points, 105 rebounds, 54 assists and 24 steals. Dempsey was an All-OAC Honorable Mention selection.

Players were nominated for the all-region awards by NCAA Division III Sports Information Directors. There were 776 players nominated nationwide. The ballot was then made available to SIDs, who voted for a predetermined number of players in their region.