Justin Keenan just wanted to win a cham­pi­onship. That’s the one goal the senior cen­ter for the Bulldogs had dur­ing his col­le­giate bas­ket­ball career.

But while the Bulldogs fell short of that goal this year after an impres­sive run to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament this sea­son, Keenan will have to set­tle for fin­ish­ing his Bulldog career as one of the most pro­lific play­ers in GLIAC history.

After being named as the Division II Bulletin Preseason National Player of the Year before the sea­son and after a sea­son where Keenan became the all-time lead­ing scorer in GLIAC his­tory, Keenan has racked up award after award this post­sea­son to cement his place as one of the most suc­cess­ful play­ers in Ferris and GLIAC history.

“Right now it just feels great to be rec­og­nized as one of the best play­ers in the coun­try, but it did come as a shock to me,” said Keenan. “It just shows that hard work pays off.”

Keenan received his most pres­ti­gious award of his career on March 28, as he was named the Division II Bulletin National Player of the Year. The award marks the first time in Ferris his­tory that a player has been named as the national player of the year.

“As our Preseason Player of the Year, Justin was expected to have a great sea­son and he cer­tainly did,” said Gary Rubin, edi­tor at the Bulletin. “He was a force on both ends of the floor for a top cal­iber team. He is most deserving.”

But the player of the year honor was only one of many for Keenan, as he was named to the 2011 Daktronics All-America First Team and was named as the Daktronics Division II Midwest Region Player of the Year. Keenan also was most recently tabbed as a Basketball Times All-America First Team selec­tion on March 31.

“This cul­mi­nates Justin’s out­stand­ing career and is a direct result of all the hard work and ded­i­ca­tion he’s made over the last four years,” said Ferris bas­ket­ball head coach Bill Sall. “He’s been a spe­cial player and helped lead us to great things this year along with his fel­low seniors and teammates.” 

Behind a sea­son aver­age of 21.6 points per game, a career high, Keenan was named as the GLIAC Player of the Year for the sec­ond con­sec­u­tive year, becom­ing the first Ferris player to earn the award twice.

Keenan fin­ishes his career at Ferris with 2,259 points in four years, plac­ing him in sec­ond in Bulldog his­tory. The school record for most made free throws in a career also belongs to Keenan, as he made 797 dur­ing his tenure at Ferris. n