Wichita State sophomore Fred VanVleet had a big smile on his face when he was announced the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Tuesday, but he gave all the praise to his teammates and coaches.

“I’ve got a lot of talented teammates that make me look really good,” VanVleet said. “And those guys make my job so much easier.”

Teammate Darius Carter wasn’t surprised that VanVleet took the top honor.

“Fred is a great player, great point guard and great leader and I feel like he’s very well deserving of that award,” Carter said.

VanVleet earned 22 out of a possible 36 first place votes to become the second player in league history to win the honor as a sophomore. The first was Doug McDermott of Creighton in 2012.

“It feels good,” VanVleet said. “It’s a great accomplishment.”

Going into the season, VanVleet said he had expected teammate Cleanthony Early to win the award after being named the MVC preseason Player of the Year.

VanVleet said he had confidence he could one day become player of the year, but that wasn’t his goal this season.

“The way the season worked out I just had to take more of a role and be more of a force on both ends of the floor for us,” he said.

Early and Ron Baker finished in the second and third spots in the voting, making this the first time in the history of the award that the top three were all from the same team. The three were also named to the all-conference team.

Teammate Tekele Cotton was voted the 2014 Defensive Player of the Year but did not make the all-conference team.

VanVleet said that although Cotton didn’t make the cut he may have the honor of being on the cover of an upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated and is one of the top players in the conference.

 “Pound-for-pound he’s one of the best players we have in the Valley,” he said.

The honor makes VanVleet the fourth Shocker to win the award since it began in 1969. Antoine Carr (1983), Xavier McDaniel (1984, 1985) and Paul Miller (2006) are previous winners.

VanVleet said one of the reasons he got as many votes as he did might be because the other coaches in the Valley recognize the little things that he did well on the court during the regular season.

With the MVC Tournament coming up in St. Louis, Mo., this weekend, VanVleet said the team is focusing on what they can do to win in Arch Madness for the first time since the ‘80s.

“There’s no time for let down or no time for lack of focus,” he said. “We haven’t won it. We didn’t win it last year when we thought we could have.”

Carter said the downtime before their first game of the tournament on Friday will give them the opportunity to prepare mentally and physically.

“I’m sure it’s going to be crazy and I’m getting prepared for it,” Carter said. “I’m ready to play.”