SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Former Winona State men's basketball standout Jonte Flowers was inducted into the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) Hall of Fame at the annual NSIC Hall of Fame Banquet held at the Best Western Ramkota in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Tuesday, July 11.
Flowers, already a two-time Winona State Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, added the impressive NSIC honor to his long list of awards following an outstanding collegiate and international professional playing career. Flowers was presented his award by Winona State Director of Athletics Eric Schoh.
Flowers earned the NSIC Defensive Player-of-the-Year Award in each of his four Warrior seasons, standing as the only four-time Player-of-Year selection in any NSIC basketball award category. Flowers is a two-time Winona State Hall of Fame inductee after he was admitted in 2018 as a key member of "The Run" which included the Warriors' 2006-08 teams and in 2020 as an individual selection.
On offense, Flowers was equally effective over his four years at WSU, scoring 1,882 points - fourth all-time - while collecting nine different All-America awards, including a 2008 Daktronics First Team All-America honor.
Flowers was a part of a 2023 class that includes one team induction and six other individual honorees. Joining Flowers in the 2023 class is the 2011 Augustana Women's Cross Country Team as well as Mary (Slinger) Heiken, Concordia University, St. Paul; Lindsey Dietz, University of Minnesota Duluth; Jennifer (Hensel) Jahnke, Minnesota State University Moorhead; Jake Hamik, Northern State University; Laura (Lundbohm) Hulsebus, Southwest Minnesota State University and Logan Masters, Wayne State College.
Founded in 1986, the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (NIC - the former men's conference) Hall of Fame was established to recognize and honor those who made significant contributions to the conference, to create favorable publicity and public relations for the league and to help preserve the history of the NIC, its member institutions, student-athletes, and other significant individuals affiliated with the league. For the first two inductions (1986 and 1990) each selection hailed from the NIC. In 1992, the Northern Sun Conference (NSC - the former women's conference) and the NIC merged, creating the current Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC). After annual inductions since 2000, the NSIC Hall of Fame now boasts over 200 members and two teams.
Each NSIC institution (who has been a league member for at least ten years) is asked to submit one candidate for consideration for induction into the Hall of Fame. Each of the candidates are derived from individuals who have been affiliated with the NSIC, NIC, NSC and their member institutions.
In order to be eligible for the NSIC Hall of Fame, candidates must have made their contributions in one of the following areas: 1) former student-athletes, 2) administrator/coach, 3) official/supervisor/coordinator, 4) contributor/supporter, or 5) team. The conference provides two plaques; one of which will go to the inductee and one to the institution represented. A history of each inductee will be kept in the NSIC Office and each institution will prominently display the plaques of their respective NSIC Hall of Fame inductees.
