MARSHALL, Minn. – The National Wheelchair Basketball Association announced this past weekend that Southwest Minnesota State University player/head coach Derek Klinkner has been awarded the Frank Brasile Sportsmanship award for the 2013-14 season.
The award’s namesake, Frank Brasile, is a former commissioner in the Intercollegiate Division of the NWBA. He has been active in the sport for decades. The award is voted upon by the head coaches in the NWBA college division.
Klinkner, a native of Artesian, helped SMSU to a sixth-place finish last weekend at the National Intercollegiate Wheelchair Basketball Tournament in Arlington, Tex. He also recently completed his first full season as interim head coach for the Mustang program.
Klinkner is the second SMSU player to receive the award in recent years. Kyle Timmerman, a native of Minneota, Minn., earned the award in both 2010 and 2011.
Southwest Minnesota State finished the 2013-14 season with an overall record of 15-17.