LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With COVID-19 putting fall sports on the shelf this season, the Bellarmine Athletics Communication staff is using part of this time to shine the spotlight on some of the top student-athletes of the past 10 years by naming the Bellarmine All-Decade teams. The teams recognize student-athletes who competed for the Knights at least two seasons from the 2010-11 school year to the 2019-20 year. 
 
Today, we name the Bellarmine All-Decade Team for Men's Basketball, which reflects a starting lineup of five players. The strength of this All-Decade Team is perhaps best illustrated by who is NOT among the five players chosen. The level of play was so high in the past decade, that five players who earned All-Region honors didn't make the list nor did three GLVC Defensive Players of the Year.  Another three players were good enough to pick up either first or second team All-Conference, but that didn't pave their way onto the All-Decade team either. 

The top five players from the 2011-2020 decade include (in alphabetical order):    

Forward — Adam Eberhard (2016-19)
Piling up All-America accolades after each of his sophomore, junior and senior seasons, Eberhard holds the distinction of being the only Knight hoopster to be a 3-time All-American. 

The Evansville, Indiana native finished his career fourth on Bellarmine's all-time scoring list, racking up 1860 points in 131 games. He was much more than a scorer, however, and ranks third on Bellarmine's career assist list with 493 and ninth on the career rebounds list with 779. Eberhard also will go down as one of the Knights' best free throw shooters. He tied Rudy Montgomery for most free throws made in a career with 457 and ranks seventh with a career free throw percentage of 82.3.Eberhard also worked hard on the defensive end of the court, currently seventh on Bellarmine's blocked shots list with 78.

Among the long list of accomplishments, Eberhard helped the Knights to a record of 112-19 (85.5%) during his four years, including an appearance in the 2017 Final Four in South Dakota.

Guard — Braydon Hobbs (2009-12)
Hobbs, the only player in school history to have his jersey retired, capped his brilliant Bellarmine playing career by picking up National Player of the Year honors from the NABC in 2012.

The consummate team player, Hobbs didn't always score the most points, but Knights fans—and Coach Scott Davenport—could always rely on him to do what was necessary to help the team win. After four years, Hobbs played (and started) in 133 games, the most in school history and finished No. 1 on Bellarmine's career list in assists (725), steals (220), and 3-pointers (279). He currently ranks ninth on BU's scoring list with 1,637 points and is third in blocked shots with 96. As testament to his all-around game and accomplishments, the name "Hobbs" can be found 57 different times in the Bellarmine record book. (By comparison, the name "Schurfranz" is listed 31 times, and two different Schrfranzes--Jim and Tom—are in the BU Hall of Fame.)
It's no coincidence that Bellarmine's 12-year streak of making the NCAA tournament field began Hobbs' freshman season.  Two years later, Hobbs helped lead the Knights to a national championship and a school-best 33-2 record. His senior year, Bellarmine again made the Final 4 and finished with a mark of 29-4. Over his four years, the Knights posted an overall record of 111-22 and an NCAA mark of 13-3.

While the All-Decade Team focuses on the athletic accomplishments of individuals, it is worth noting that among the piles of honors earned by Hobbs, the New Albany native was named as the GLVC Men's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2011 and 2012 and was an Academic All-American his senior year.

Guard — Jeremy Kendle (2010-12)
After a litany of injuries prevented Kendle from getting his collegiate career off the ground, the Jeffersonville, Indiana native burst onto the Bellarmine basketball scene with a 16-point performance in a preseason exhibition against Cincinnati in the 2009-10 season, and the 6-2 guard simply never slowed down. He went on to lead the Knights in scoring that season, which equated to his freshman year at Bellarmine. He also paced the Knights' scoring attack the following two seasons to rake in All-America honors each year while helping lead the Knights to the national championship in 2011 and a return trip to the Final Four in 2012.   

Although the NCAA cleared Kendle for a fourth season of eligibility at Bellarmine, he opted to pursue professional basketball instead of a graduate degree. Still, in just three years as a Knight, he climbed to No. 4 on the all-time scoring list with 1,792 points and No. 5 on the all-time assist list with 357 (Kendle's current ranks are 5th in scoring and 7th in assists).  

Kendle earned 1st Team All-America honors from Basketball Times in both 2011 and 2012 while also making the prestigious NABC All-America Team those same seasons. The Great Lakes Valley Conference named him Player of the Year in 2011 and he was an All-GLVC selection all three seasons he was a Knight. 


Forward — Jake Thelen (2013-15)
Thelen came to Bellarmine after earning Southern States Conference Freshman of the Year honors while at Spring Hill College, but in just three seasons as a Knight, he made a big impact on the program and ranks 18th on BU's all-time scoring list with 1,412 points.

He started all 98 games of his Bellarmine career, and his senior season will go down as one of the best individual performances in school history. His 651 points in 2015 were the second-most in a single season by a Knight while his 375 rebounds that same year also are the second-most in a season by a BU player.  His season averages of 18.4 points and 10.6 rebounds made him the first Bellarmine player to average a double-double since Mike Holmes accomplished the feat in 1988.  The postseason honors poured in for Thelen. Five different organizations named him to their All-America Teams and the GLVC coaches voted him Player of the Year. That same season also saw the Knights as a team return to the Final Four for the third time in school history and finish with a 31-4 record.

While 2015 was one for the ages, Thelen's junior campaign also was chock full of incredible achievements. Most notably, he broke the school record and led the nation with a field goal percentage of an astounding 74 percent.

Guard — Rusty Troutman (2014-17)
Another impact player from the time he stepped on the court until he graduated, Troutman, a 6-5 guard, donned the Bellarmine uniform 130 times in his career, making 114 starts.

Troutman earned a reputation as a great shooter and finished with a career field goal percentage of 51.3 percent despite taking nearly half (510 of 1029) of his career shots from beyond the 3-point line. However, like the others on the All-Decade Team, the Mt. Washington, Kentucky native made positive contributions in all facets of the game, and the statistics reflect that. He's 8th on BU's scoring and assist lists with 1,715 points and 337 assists, and he ranks in the top five in both career 3-pointers (No. 3 with 220) and steals (5th with 120).

The postseason laurels were plentiful for Troutman, earning All-GLVC, All-Midwest Region, and All-America honors in both 2016 and 2017.

PLAYER OF THE DECADE NOMINEES:
Because all five members of the All-Decade Team also earned All-America honors, all are nominated for Player of the Decade.

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).