For Immediate Release
Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021
NSIC Media Relations

BURNSVILLE, Minn. - Northern State’s Andrew Kallman was voted by the league coaches as the inaugural winner of the NSIC Bob Olson Outstanding Senior of the Year Award.  A native of Chaska, Minnesota, Kallman is a senior majoring in digital media and holds a 3.4 cumulative grade point average.  

The “Bob Olson Outstanding Senior of the Year Award” is presented to a NSIC men’s basketball student-athlete who participates at his institution for four years and is academically superior while making a positive contribution to his team and University. The Bob Olson Outstanding Senior of the Year award was initiated in 2020-21 to honor an outstanding senior that exemplifies the attributes of Bob Olson. Olson, a longtime basketball coach and administrator at Northern State University, is known for his loyalty, commitment and humility. The NSIC men’s basketball coaches felt Olson exemplified the attributes of the NSIC and wanted to honor a graduating senior student-athlete from the league that emulated Olson’s traits. 

Kallman, a three-year starter at NSU, has been a part of four straight NSIC Championship teams. He has been a team captain the past two years.  Kallman is averaging 9.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game in his senior campaign. He leads the team with 68 total assists, averaging 4.3 per game. The senior sits tied for fourth in the NSIC in assists. He is shooting 46.5% from the field and 40.9% from the 3-point line. Kallman added 11 steals and seven blocks in the regular season. The senior tallied career highs in points (22) and rebounds (8) this season. 

Off the court, Kallman has participated yearly in the Northern State Day of Champions volunteering at numerous locations in Northeastern South Dakota, including the Westport Church in 2019. In addition, the men's basketball team at Northern State has volunteered annually at the Aberdeen community book fair and local basketball camps and clinics. He has also been a part of the community outreach at the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament and the NCAA Elite Eight.

“Andrew is an excellent defender on and off the ball. He is an asset for our team when he’s on the court, currently leading us in assists this season. Andrew has consistently been an honors student throughout his collegiate career and an honoree on the NSIC All-Academic team. In addition to his success on the court and in the classroom, Andrew is an exceptional team leader and a well-known face in the Aberdeen community. We are so proud that Andrew is the inaugural recipient of this award named after Northern’s retired Athletic Director and former men’s basketball coach, Bob Olson. He exemplifies what it means to be a Wolves student-athlete and has continued the strong tradition of Wolves basketball that Bob helped build,” said Head Coach Saul Phillips. 

Bob Olson dedicated his career to Northern State University and the city of Aberdeen, South Dakota. Olson attended NSU in the mid-1970s and played basketball for legendary coach Bob Wachs. Olson earned a bachelor’s degree from NSU and served as a graduate assistant under Wachs. When Wachs retired in 1985, Olson was selected as NSU’s 19th men’s basketball coach. For the next 14 years, Olson led NSU teams to national prominence at the NAIA and NCAA levels. The Wolves earned national post-season berths in their first four seasons in the NCAA, highlighted by a North Central Region Championship and Elite Eight berth in 1997-98. The Elite Eight appearance was the first by a NSIC institution in men’s basketball. Olson has also made his mark within NSU’s athletic department as in 1999, he took over for Jim Kretchman as the school’s athletics director. For 13 years Olson led the Wolves athletic programs while also serving a term on the NCAA Championships Committee. Olson retired in 2012 and was inducted into the NSIC Hall of Fame in 2016.

About the NSIC
The NSIC is a 16-team, 18-sport, NCAA Division II conference with institutions located in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The NSIC is a model Division II conference that uses high-level athletics competition to develop champions in the classroom and community while empowering student-athletes to be impactful and positive leaders. Formed in 1992 by the merger of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (men’s league) and the Northern Sun Conference (women’s league), the NSIC has flourished over the past quarter century, maturing into a 16-team union of Upper Midwest colleges and universities. The NSIC has won 23 team national championships and crowned 77 individual national champions. For additional information, visit NorthernSun.org.

About NCAA Division II
The NCAA, the national governing body for college athletics, is a volunteer association of more than 1,000 colleges and universities that classify their athletics programs in one of three membership divisions. The 300+ institutions in NCAA Division II support a balanced approach in which student-athletes have the opportunity to earn scholarships based on their athletic ability, pursue their desired academic degree, and participate in all the campus and surrounding community have to offer. Division II student-athletes annually graduate at rates higher than their student body peers, and they have access to the best championships-participant ratio among the NCAA’s three divisions. Division II gives student-athletes the unique opportunity to compete in the classroom, on the field, in their career, for their causes, and on their terms. For additional information, visit NCAA.org.