Polka, Kreps Named Chip Hilton Award Finalists

LUBBOCK, Texas -- Two Horizon League seniors, Loyola's Andy Polka (Oshkosh, Wis.) and Robo Kreps (Forsyth, Ill.) of UIC, have been named finalists for the Chip Hilton Award.  The honors will be presented by Chip Hilton Sports and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) at the Final Four in Houston on April 3.

Chip Hilton Sports began presenting the award in 1997 as a way to honor outstanding excellence and character in college basketball during the season.

The Chip Hilton Player of the Year Awardhonors a senior Division I men's player for demonstrating outstanding character, leadership, and talent similar to the qualities evident in the 24-book Chip Hilton sports fiction series. The books authored by Clair Bee enjoyed their first popularity in the late 1940s through the mid-1960s and were updated and re-released to a new generation of readers in 1999.

A student-athlete in the truest sense of the word, Polka excelled both on the court and in the classroom in his Loyola career, earned Horizon League Academic Honor Roll status, and closed out his career ranked third in school history with 989 rebounds. Polka was also a member of the Loyola Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). The 6-foot-7 Oshkosh, Wis., native totaled 959 points in his career, almost becoming only the third player in Rambler history to accumulate 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Polka, a team captain, finished the 2010-11 season with a flourish, averaging 8.6 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals over the final eight contests. In a Feb. 10 contest versus Horizon League regular-season co-champion Milwaukee, he registered his second double-double of the year with 16 points and a season-best 14 rebounds.

Kreps recently wrapped up a brilliant career in a UIC Flames uniform. The program's all-time leader in games played, Kreps saw action in 125 contests the past four seasons, including 91 starting assignments. Kreps scored 1,594 career points, ranking seventh on the Flames' all-time scoring list.

The senior also ranks in the top-10 all-time in field goals made (533; 7th), three-point field goals made (230; 4th), free throw percentage (.816; 5th), free throws made (298; 8th) and steals (146; 7th). He played a total of 3,944 minutes during his career, ranking third all-time, and his 91 starts are the eighth-most in school history.

While his best basketball may still be lying ahead, Kreps truly represents the essence of a "student-athlete." He is on track to graduate in May with a degree in kinesiology, and is currently completing an internship with the strength & conditioning coaches at UIC. He carries 3.15 cumulative grade-point-average.By the time he left coaching in the 1950s, Clair Bee had already begun writing the Chip Hilton Sports Series, which is considered the top sports fiction series ever written.

The Chip Hilton Selection Committee is composed of: Dan Beebe, Jay Bilas, Dave Gavitt, Bob Hammel, Bob Knight, Pat Knight, Billy Packer, Dean Smith, and Dick Vitale.

Chip Hilton Award Finalists:
James "Jimmer" Fredette, Brigham Young University
Charles Jenkins, Hofstra University
Robert "Robo" Kreps, UIC                 
Andy Polka, Loyola University Chicago