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Bock and Lauren Decker of Oklahoma Christian University were chosen by the NAIA Council of Faculty Athletic Representatives from a field that included nominees from the NAIA’s 290 member institutions. MVNU will receive a $1,000 scholarship award from Daktronics in Bock’s name. Presented annually since 1950, the Liston Award honors the memory of the NAIA’s first executive director. It recognizes both a male and female junior basketball player based on scholarship, character, and playing ability. To be eligible, nominees must have at least a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

A leader on the court as a team captain and starting point guard, Bock, who is a native of Tallmadge, Ohio, has also excelled in the classroom and in the community. The former Tallmadge High School standout averaged a career-high 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game during the 2004-2005 campaign as the Cougars went 21-11. He also ranked fourth in NAIA Division II in assists per game (6.8), seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.8), and tenth in steals per game (2.7). Bock was named to the American Mideast Conference South Division Second Team and was a National Christian College Athletic Association East Region Honorable Mention pick. He also moved into eighth place on the school’s career assists list with 427. The Cougars have gone 64-37 during Bock’s three seasons on the team.

In the classroom, Bock has compiled a 3.994 grade point average as a Biology (Pre-Med) major while taking honors classes. He has been named to the MVNU Dean’s List (3.5 or higher) all six semesters and was selected as an NAIA and NCCAA All-America Scholar-Athlete in 2004-2005. Bock was also named to both the ESPN The Magazine® Academic All-District IV First Team and the ESPN The Magazine® Academic All-American Third Team in the College Division.

Outside of basketball and the classroom, Bock is very active in community service-related projects. He traveled with Athletes in Action to South Africa in the summer of 2004, went on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic in the summer of 2002, and will be traveling with the MVNU men’s basketball team to Jamaica in June. He is active in Fellowship of Christian Athletes and serves as a small group leader at MVNU, and he has also taught Sunday School classes at New Life Community Church during the past two school years.

Bock becomes the second MVNU men's basketball player to receive the Liston Award.  Tom Clark, a former Cougar standout and now a member of the Cougar Wall of Fame, was selected as a Liston Award recipient in 1986.