MMBOW #10: Levi Rost, Western Michigan

Not very many people outside Kalamazoo were taking the Western Michigan Broncos seriously this year in their quest to defend their Mid-American Conference crown. After all, they lost the reigning MAC Player of The Year, forward Mike Williams - WMU rode his coattails on many occasions last year on their way to the Tournament. So they needed someone to step up in 2004-05, and someone did. Levi Rost is our tenth Mid-Majority Baller Of The Week.

Mister Rost, a senior, is an undersized yet big-playing power forward who stands six-seven and weighs 210 pounds. In Saturday's MAC East showdown-of-undefeateds with Bowling Green, he scored 20 points on 5-for-9 shooting, went 8-for-10 from the stripe, and grabbed seven boards for good measure. Earlier in the week, during the Broncos' dominating win over Kent State, Levi went off from the field (8-for-12) and finished with 25.

Rost has matured in a big way this year. As a junior, he played about 20 minutes as a game as a sixth-man small forward - with mixed results. Aside from a solid 18-and-9 against Central Michigan in Late February and a 26-point outburst in an early laugher over Ohio, he took too many shots and got in foul trouble too often. But now he's averaging 18 points (up from seven in 2003-04) and nearly six boards, and he's keeping his fouls down. He's also improved greatly from the line, as a whopping 19 percentage-point increase (to 85.2%) shows.

Earlier this season, he set the school record for three-pointers in a game with nine at Buffalo. The performance came after a horrible shooting night in a non-conference tilt against Detroit - Rost stayed in the gym until two a.m. after that game, a testament to his increasingly solid work ethic. He and a fellow senior, guard Ben Reed, are assuming key leadership roles for the Broncos.

Rost is a Great Lake State native, and grew up in St. John's, a 90-minute drive from Western's campus. His twin sister, Casey, plays for the WMU womens' team and is a three-point specialist in her own right. So if you're ever over at the Rost household for dinner, and the twins challenge you to a game of H-O-R-S-E, for God's sake say no.

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