Naperville, Il., -- Just like that, Vikings basketball is back and in full effect. After one week of play, North Park guard Mike Vuckovic has earned this season's first College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Student Athlete of the Week honors for his play over the Vikings' 2-1 start.

North Park opened the season with back-to-back road games, taking down Lake Forest College 93-87; a barn burner of a game that saw Vuckovic lead the Vikings in scoring, assists, and steals.  He finished with 24 points on 10-18 from the field and 2-5 from behind the arc, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals.  Following his hot start, in their 82-77 victory over Alma College where the Vikings came back from a 16-point deficit in the second half, Vuckovic erupted for a game-high and career-high 38 points, the highest individual point total by a Viking player since teammate Kolden Vanlandingam had 38 in January of 2024 against Carthage.  Vuckovic finished with 38 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal on 14-24 shooting and 8-9 from the free throw line.  In North Park's loss to #7 UW La Crosse, Mike cooled off a bit posting 9 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, but made his presence felt on the court nonetheless.

Vuckovic is averaging 23.7 points, 7 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game on 52% shooting over the first three games of the season and will look to continue his efficient start as the Vikings head to Indiana to face Anderson University on Saturday, November 22nd.