Leon Bond III

ST. LOUIS — Northern Iowa redshirt sophomore Leon Bond III has been named the Missouri Valley Conference’s Player of the Week as announced by the league office on Monday.

The selection is the first weekly conference honor for Bond, who set new career-highs last week in points scored (37), field goals made (12), 3-pointers made (4) and free throws made (12) to help UNI roll Montana, 104-76. His 37 points against the Grizzlies were the most recorded by an MVC player this season and third-most in UNI single-game history.

Bond’s 37 points were one point shy of Jeremy Morgan’s single-game home record (38) and three from tying UNI’s all-time scoring record (40), a mark held by both Jerry Waugh and Cam Johnson.

Bond also recorded 17 points in UNI’s 76-68 loss against Washington State on Saturday in Las Vegas at the Holiday Hoops Classic.

Bond joined the Panther roster this season after two seasons at Virginia, which included a redshirt year in 2022-23. This season he has averaged 11.9 points per game on 60.2 percent shooting with 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest.