As Mid-American Conference preseason rankings come out from official and unofficial polls across the country, there has been almost exclusively one name checking the box for Player of the Year: Peter Suder.
The Miami RedHawks guard was a First-Team All-MAC selectee in his first season in Oxford, Ohio, averaging 13.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists, vastly improving his efficiency from his first two years, which he played at Bellarmine.
Despite holding a higher percentage of returning minutes than any of their MAC contemporaries, the RedHawks lost a good bit of scoring punch. Starters Kam Craft and Mekhi Cooper, two of the conference’s best outside shooters, headline a slim group of leavers. With the two gone, Suder is much more likely to see the ball every trip down the floor for the RedHawks.
However, Suder has earned the reps. While deferring to Craft and Cooper to some degree last season, he was the engine of a best-in-conference Miami offense that made the 16th-most 3-pointers in the nation on the third-best percentage.
Despite this, Suder himself got most of his work done inside the arc. Perhaps the biggest improvement behind his breakout came from his mid-range scoring. At Bellarmine in 2023-24, Suder shot just 29.4% on 1.2 mid-range field goal attempts per game (via CBBAnalytics.com). At Miami, that percentage shot up to 49.0%, ranking in the 92nd percentile nationally.
Miami’s spacing fully opened the court up in this regard. In 2023-24, Bellarmine just barely ranked inside the nation’s top-200 in 3-point volume, and just inside the top-175 in efficiency. Thankfully, likely filling in for Suder and Cooper in the starting lineup is another pair of lights-out shooters: junior Evan Ipsaro (41.7%) and sophomore Brant Byers (41.4%).
Suder’s craft inside the arc was the perfect orchestrating piece for Miami’s blitzkrieg style from deep. It also allowed Suder to get to the rim at a 91st percentile rate, with more than one-third of his shots coming from the restricted area.
Suder’s best games came at the end of the season. While the RedHawks were 6.4 points better with Suder on the court throughout the season, that climbed to 18.4 points better in the last five games. In the MAC Tournament (three games), Suder averaged 18.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists, including a near triple-double and two 20-point performances.
Suder’s playmaking is another of his biggest strengths. In terms of generating assists from high-value locations, few did it like Suder. Nearly 90% of Suder’s assists were on shots at the rim or from 3-point range.
Suder’s ability to operate as an engine for a prolific offense, both as a scorer and playmaker, is what could win him the MAC’s most illustrious individual award. But he’s not a slouch defensively either. Suder’s a tremendous shot-blocker for a guard, ranking in the 83rd percentile nationally with a 1.7% block rate. He finishes possessions well as a defensive rebounder, too, with an 84th percentile-worthy 14.6% defensive rebound rate.
Overall, Suder’s versatility and efficiency displayed in 2024-25 are what make him the frontrunner for MAC POY. With a less-proven supporting cast and a likely higher ball-handling role, Suder has an uphill climb to prove his breakout was real, but if he can maintain or continue to improve, his case is more than worthy.
