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Somerset, NJ -- After crossing the Northeast Conference (NEC) regular season finish line, it’s time to hand out the hardware to those who made the biggest impact during the 2020-21 campaign.
At the top of that list is Wagner senior guard
Alex Morales (Paterson, NJ/Mainland Regional (Prince George’s CC)), who walked away with NEC Player of the Year honors in a vote conducted by the league’s head coaches.
His teammate
DeLonnie Hunt (Upper Marlboro, MD/Rock Creek Christian), a freshman guard, was tabbed as the NEC Rookie of the Year, while Wagner head coach Bashir Mason was unanimously selected as the Jim Phelan Coach of the Year by his peers for the third time after guiding the Seahawks to the NEC regular season title.
Mount St. Mary’s junior forward
Nana Opoku (Potomac, MD/Woodbridge, VA) won a tightly contested vote for NEC Defensive Player of the Year, while Sacred Heart sophomore guard
Tyler Thomas (Amity, CT/Amity Regional (Williston Northampton)) took home NEC Most Improved Player accolades.
The honorees were announced this afternoon as a prelude to the 2021 NEC Men’s Basketball Tournament, which begins on Saturday with semifinal round play at campus sites.
Morales follows in the footsteps of Wagner legends and NEC Hall of Famers Terrance Bailey (1985-86) and Jermaine Hall (2002-03), who both achieved NEC Player of the Year status during their illustrious careers. With Morales as the unquestioned catalyst, the streaking Seahawks head into the postseason as the NEC Tournament top seed after winning 12 of their last 13 games and the program’s third NEC regular season title in six years. The silky 6’5” combo guard with the multifaceted game proved to be a matchup nightmare for opponents as Wagner centered its game plan around his ability to make the right decisions with the ball in his hands. A pinpoint passer with the ability to score from all three levels, finish in transition and sweep the boards, Morales ranks in the NEC top-10 in a host of key metrics. The four-time NEC Player of the Week and Newark, NJ native is currently fourth in scoring (17.1) and assists (4.3), eighth in rebounding (7.4), seventh in steals (1.8) and third in double-doubles (six). After a slow start from three-point range, he shot 53.6 percent from three-point territory over his last ten games. In less than two full years on Grymes Hill, Morales has racked up 706 points, 302 rebounds and 168 assists.
One of the key building blocks in Bashir Mason’s long range plans at Wagner, Hunt immediately earned a starting spot and ended the season as one of the league’s true ironmen, averaging 34.5 minutes per contest for the regular season champs. An off guard with blazing quick speed who can both finish at the rim and pull up on a dime from distance, he leads all NEC freshmen with 10.6 ppg and 2.8 apg. Further bolstering his resume with 3.7 rpg, a 2.32 assist-to-turnover ratio and 36.6 percent accuracy from outside the arc, it becomes quite evident why the Upper Marlboro, MD product was a three-time NEC Rookie of the Week. Hunt joined NEC Hall of Famer Jermaine Hall (1999-00), Ryan Reed (1995-96) and Miladin Mutavdzic (1991-92) as Wagner players to have won the NEC Rookie of the Year award.
Opoku made his presence felt defensively this season, not only as a shot blocker, but as a deterrent to anyone looking to score against the Mount in the paint. A coveted rim protector with the ability to alter entire game plans with his length, Opoku ranks second in the NEC in blocks (1.9) and block rate (5.8), and finished the regular season recording seven games with three or more rejections. Anchoring the top-ranked defense on the circuit, the Potomac, MD native helped the Mount lock down opponents, limiting NEC rivals to just 61.0 ppg, 39.5 percent shooting and 0.94 PPP, all league-leading figures. Opoku is the third Mount St. Mary’s player to collect DPOY honors, joining Chris Wray (2017-18) and two-time winner Mychal Kearse (2005-06, 2006-07).
Thomas emerged from a strong contingent of candidates for Most Improved honors as his year-to-year progression ranked with the best in recent NEC memory. A handy reserve shooting guard in his freshman year at Sacred Heart, Thomas boosted his scoring average from 5.6 ppg to a league-leading 19.4 ppg, which ranks him in the top-40 nationally. Providing star power on a SHU team picked tenth in the NEC preseason poll, his shotmaking helped spring the Pios to a third place finish and coveted spot in the conference tournament. Thomas has posted eight 20+ point games on the year and his 36-point explosion against Merrimack on January 7 remains the NEC single-game season-high. He also lifted his rebounding numbers from 2.3 to 5.2 per game, hit 44 shots from deep and converted at a 82.2 percent clip from the stripe during the regular season. Thomas, who hails from Amity, CT, is the third Pioneer to take home the NEC MIP award. E.J. Anosike won it in 2018-19 and Liam Potter was honored with the inaugural award in 2009-10.
Mason has entered elite territory, becoming just the second coach in the conference’s 40-year history to win three Jim Phelan Coach of the Year honors, joining NEC Hall of Fame coach Howie Dickenman, who earned the distinction four times in his storied career at CCSU. Mason, who was also recognized in 2015-16 and 2017-18, ignored the naysayers who saw a Wagner team tabbed eighth in the preseason poll as anything but a contender. The Seahawks started slow before hitting their stride in mid-January, reeling off 10 straight wins to go from worst to first in the NEC race. Needing a sweep of Merrimack this past week to capture the NEC regular season title and #1 seed in the conference tournament, Wagner (13-5 NEC) did just that, and as such, owns home court advantage throughout the playoffs. It marked the third regular season title in the last six years under Mason, who is now two wins away from hoisting the NEC trophy for the first time in his successful tenure in Staten Island. Over nine years at Wagner, the Seahawks have posted a 96-56 record in league play, and his .632 career winning percentage ranks third among NEC coaches with at least 100 career games. NEC analyst Tim Capstraw previously won this award for the Seahawks in 1991-92, as did Dereck Whittenberg in leading the Green & White to their lone tournament title in 2002-03.
AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
LIU redshirt senior forward
Ty Flowers (Waterbury, CT/Sacred Heart (UMass)) was the lone three-time All-NEC honoree on this year’s list of award winners. The premier stat-stuffer can now boast of being a back-to-back second team honoree after earning third team accolades in 2018-19. He ranks in the NEC top-10 in six key statistical categories, including scoring (17.3) and rebounding (8.1). Flowers finished with 1,213 points and 674 rebounds in his three years at LIU.
Student-athletes who repeated as NEC all-stars included Flowers, Mount St. Mary’s junior guard
Damian Chong Qui (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh), Fairleigh Dickinson senior guard
Jahlil Jenkins (Ranson, WV/Virginia Academy) and St. Francis Brooklyn senior guard
Chauncey Hawkins (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional). Chong Qui was bumped from the third team to the first team and Hawkins was promoted from the third team to the second team. Jenkins was tabbed to the second team for the second year running.
Bryant sophomore guard
Michael Green III (Bronx, NY/Mount St. Michael Academy) made the jump from NEC Rookie of the Year to second team all-star for the Bulldogs, who enter the NEC Tournament as the #2 seed after posting a 10-4 NEC mark. The Bulldogs, who concluded the regular season with a 14-5 overall mark, turned heads early on with a one-point loss at Syracuse in its opener and a 93-88 win at UMass that saw Green explode for a career-high 33 points.
With redshirt junior
Eral Penn’s (Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Academy (MD)) selection, LIU has landed at least one player on the All-NEC first team in each of the last six seasons and 12 of the last 13 years. After missing the 2019-20 campaign with an injury, Penn proved to be a dominant force in the paint for the Sharks and ended his season leading the NEC with 10.4 rpg and 12 double-doubles, while supplying 15.9 ppg.
Wagner boasts two All-NEC first teamers - senior guards
Alex Morales (Paterson, NJ/Mainland Regional (Prince George’s CC)) and
Elijah Ford (Newark, NJ/Weequahic (Barton CC)) - for the first time since Mark Porter and Durell Vinson were honored back in the 2007-08 season. Paired alongside the NEC Player of the Year, Ford saw his stock rise dramatically. He upgraded his scoring from 9.5 ppg to 17.6 ppg while shooting 59.5 percent from the floor to rank second in the league in both categories.
The last four Mount St. Mary’s players named to the first team have all been 6’0” and under guards. Prior to
Damian Chong Qui’s (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) selection this season, there was Junior Robinson (5’5”) in 2017-18, Elijah Long (6’0”) in 2016-17 and Jeremy Goode (5’9”) in 2008-09 and 2009-10. Chong Qui, whose late-game heroics have been well chronicled this season, is the NEC leader with 5.6 apg and averages 14.9 ppg for the playoff bound Mountaineers.
A pair of NEC newcomers collected All-Conference plaudits. High scoring Bryant redshirt senior guard
Peter Kiss (New York, NY/Notre Dame Prep (Rutgers)) landed on the first team and St. Francis Brooklyn graduate student swingman
Travis Atson (Brooklyn, NY/Christ the King (Quinnipiac)) was a third team pick. The NEC’s fifth-leading scorer at 17.0 ppg, Kiss has posted a league-best ten games with 20+ points and hopes to finish the season as part of the 50/40/80 club. The efficient scorer is shooting 50.7 percent from the floor (eighth in NEC), 44.4 percent from three-point range (second) and 84.1 percent from the line (fourth). Atson supplied the Terriers with 14.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, and shot 50.9 percent overall and 39.7 percent from distance.
A trio of underclassmen earned All-NEC accolades. Bryant sophomore guard
Michael Green III (Bronx, NY/Mount St. Michael Academy) and Sacred Heart sophomore guard
Tyler Thomas (Amity, CT/Amity Regional (Williston Northampton)) were voted to the second team, while Merrimack sophomore forward
Jordan Minor (Kingston, MA/Brimmer and May) was a third team honoree after contributing 12.0 ppg and 8.1 rpg for the Warriors.
Fairleigh Dickinson senior guard
Jahlil Jenkins (Ranson, WV/Virginia Academy) ended his FDU career ranked 33rd on both the NEC career scoring (1,698) and assist (477) charts. Classmate and fellow 1,000-point scorer
Elyjah Williams (Evanston, IL/Evanston) also picked up All-NEC honors, landing a spot on the third team. Jenkins (16.8 ppg) and Williams (13.9) ranked one-two on the Knights in scoring and were among the NEC’s most efficient shooters from long range.
After serving as a backup to NEC Player of the Year award winners Keith Braxton (2018-19) and Isaiah Blackmon (2019-20), Saint Francis U senior guard
Ramiir Dixon-Conover (Newark, NJ/South Kent (CT) (Southeastern CC)) was thrust into the spotlight this season and didn’t disappoint, claiming a spot on the All-NEC third team after raising his scoring average by 11.5 ppg to 15.5 ppg, the tenth-best mark in the conference.
St. Francis Brooklyn senior guard
Chauncey Hawkins (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional) and second team all-star piled up 1,261 points over his four-year career with the Terriers.
One year after Juvaris Hayes took the NEC by storm,
Mikey Watkins (Roselle, NJ/Linden) stepped into his role without missing a beat. The junior guard, himself a lockdown defender, posted 12.0 ppg, 3.8 apg and ranked fourth with 1.9 spg.
Sacred Heart freshman guard
Mike Sixsmith (Hicksville, NY/Holy Trinity) was voted onto the All-Rookie team after wrapping the regular season ranked first nationally in effective field goal percentage (.773) and true shooting percentage (.792), and leading the NEC in three-point accuracy (.544).
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 40th anniversary season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout seven states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Boston (#9), Baltimore (#26), Hartford/New Haven (#33) and Providence (#53). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 24 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU, Merrimack, Mount St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.
2020-21 Northeast Conference Men’s Basketball Award Winners