Met Basketball Writers Announce Award Recipients
MAAC Sports
EDISON, N.J. -- Steve Masiello, who guided the Manhattan College men’s basketball team to the 2014 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship and a berth in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, has been named Division I Coach of the Year by the Met Basketball Writers Association.
Additionally, five men’s basketball student-athletes from MAAC institutions were named to the All-Met Division I all-star teams. Sean Armand of Iona and George Beamon of Manhattan were first team selections, while A. J. English of Iona and Rhamel Brown of Manhattan were second team picks. Named to the All-Met Third Team was David Laury of Iona.
This is the second time in three years that Masiello has received the Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year Award, named in honor of the late, long-time Fordham Athletic Director. Masiello, who was Coach of the Year following the 2011-12 season, led the Jaspers to a 25-8 record and the MAAC Championship. Manhattan was a No. 13 seed and extended No. 4 seed Louisville to the final minutes before falling in NCAA tournament’s second round. The 25 wins is the second highest single season victory total for the Jaspers.
Armand, a 6-5, 200-pound senior from Brooklyn, led Iona in scoring, averaging 17.5 points per game. Armand was a first-team All-MAAC selection, and was No. 2 in three-point field goal percentage, hitting .469 from beyond the arc. Armand was fourth in the conference in assists with 4.1 per game, and second with 2.9 three-point field goals made per game. He was No. 10 in the MAAC in field goal percentage, hitting .490 of his shots. He helped lead the Gaels to a 17-3 record in league play and the MAAC regular season championship. Iona was 22-11 overall and advanced to the NIT.
Beamon was the Jaspers’ leading scorer, averaging 18.8 points per game, good for No. 3 in the MAAC. The first-team All-MAAC choice was seventh in the conference in free throw percentage, hitting .827 of his shots from the line. Beamon, who was named to the MAAC All-Championship team, was fourth in steals with 1.6 per game. The 6-4, 175-pound swingman from Roslyn, N.Y., was selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the 2014 MAAC Championship.
English emerged as one of the top backcourt performers in the MAAC in 2013-14 as a sophomore. The 6-4, 190-pound guard from Wilmington, Del., was a first-team All-MAAC selection after finishing No. 6 in the conference in scoring, averaging 17.2 points per game. English was No. 3 with 4.3 assists per contest, and No. 3 with 2.5 three-point field goals per contest. English was also sixth in the MAAC assist/turnover ratio, at 1.5.
Brown was selected as the MAAC’s Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive season. The 6-7, 235-pound Brown, a second team All-MAAC selection, led the MAAC and was No. 3 nationally with 3.6 blocked shots per game. Brown, who was named to the MAAC All-Championship team, led the conference in field goal percentage, converting .552 of his attempts. He averaged 10. 1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, and was a two-time co-captain for the Jaspers. He was named national Defensive Player of the Year by www.MidMajorMadness.com.
Laury was once again one of the top big men in the MAAC, and was a second-team All-MAAC choice following the 2013-14 season. The 6-9, 255-pound junior averaged 14.0 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, fourth best in the MAAC, and recorded eight “double-doubles” during the campaign. Laury was second in the conference in field goal percentage, hitting .549 from the floor, and No. 3 in defensive rebounding, with 6.0 per game. Laury was also named to the MAAC All-Championship team.
The 2013-14 All Met Division I men’s college basketball teams and awards, announced April 22 by the Met Basketball Writers Association:
FIRST TEAM
D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s 6-4, jr, G (Missouri City, TX)
Sean Armand, Iona 6-5, sr, G (Brooklyn, NY)
George Beamon, Manhattan 6-4, sr, G/F (Roslyn, NY)
Jason Brickman, LIU 6-0, sr, G (San Antonio, TX)
Fuquan Edwin, Seton Hall 6-6, sr, G (Paterson, NJ)
Jameel Warney, Stony Brook 6-8, so, F (Plainfield, NJ)
SECOND TEAM
A.J. English, Iona 6-0, so, G (Wilmington, DE)
Rhamel Brown, Manhattan 6-7, sr, F/C (Brooklyn, NY)
JaKarr Sampson, St. John’s 6-9, so, F (Akron, OH)
Kyle Wilson, Army 6-4, so, G/F (Mission Viejo, CA)
Alex Rosenberg, Columbia 6-7, jr, F (Short Hills, NJ)
Branden Frazier, Fordham 6-3, sr, G (Brooklyn, NY)
THIRD TEAM
David Laury, Iona 6-9, jr, F (E. Orange, NJ)
Kadeem Jack, Rutgers 6-9, jr, F (Queens, NY)
Sidney Sanders Jr., FDU 5-11, sr, G (Charleston, SC)
Myles Mack, Rutgers 5-9, jr, G (Paterson, NJ)
Zeke Upshaw, Hofstra 6-6, gr, F (Chicago, IL)
Eugene Teague, Seton Hall 6-9, sr, C (Vineland, NJ)
Haggerty Player of the Year: D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s
Rookie of the Year: Jon Severe, Fordham
Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year: Steve Masiello, Manhattan