|
Big East Conference Ready to Build on Its Laurels
BY BERNIE BEGLANE
“We never had a season like that before…and I promise that we will never have one in the future.”
Kim Barnes Arico, women’s basketball coach at St. John’s University, was talking about the 8-20 record registered by her team in the 2006-07 season.
And true to her word, the Red Storm bounced back to finish 18-15 in the recently concluded schedule.
Topping it off was a loss – yes, a loss – 63-61 to North Carolina State in the quarter-finals of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
Kia Wright, a senior, led the way with 16 points, one more than junior Monique McLean who pulled down six rebounds while also registering four steals.
“We were losing by 20 at the half,” explained Kim, “and obviously we fought back.
STORMIN’ BACK: Monique McLean, left, and Kia Wright were two of the reasons St. John’s University’s women’s basketball team made it to the women’s NIT this season after a tough 2006-2007 campaign. Below, At the helm was Coach Kim Barnes Arico, seen at right. Wright and McLean were selected to the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Division I second team.
“Three of our four seniors wound up with 58 of the 61 points.”
Switching to the 2006-07 campaign, the coach continued, “We graduated five seniors and then injuries caused us to lose four more players.
“The experience our freshmen gained that year paid dividends as we had a good nucleus returning this time.”
As a result of the comeback, Wright and McLean were selected to the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Division I second team.
All award winners were honored at the 75th annual dinner of the NIT and Met writers at the Giants Stadium Club, East Rutherford, N.J.
Rachele Fitz of Marist College was a Division I first-team honoree, as was LIU’s five-seven sophomore guard, Valerie Nainima.
Caitlin Flood of Manhattan College; Noteisha Womack of Seton Hall and Sabra Wrice of Fairfield were among the third-team choices.
Coaches of the Year
Brian Giorgis of Marist and C. Vivian Stringer of Rutgers shared the Maggie Dixon Coach of the Year Award, which honors the Army coach who died so suddenly.
Giorgis posted a 32-3 record which included an undefeated 18-game regular season streak in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
The Red Foxes made it to the NCAA for the fourth time in his six seasons, defeating DePaul in the first round before losing to LSU.
In Division II Adele Laskowski and Dana Rotio of Dominican; Takiyah Ingram of St. Thomas Aquinas; Kymira Woodberry of Molloy, Rockville Centre; and Mackenzie Lynch of Caldwell were voted to the first team.
Woodberry led the Lions (19-12) who were ousted in the first round of the NCAA playoffs, with 17.1 scoring and 10.7 rebounding averages.
John Burke of Dominican was Coach of the Year as the Chargers went 22-9 and reached the NCAA for the first time ever only to lose in the opening round.
Burke is 121-83 in seven seasons at the school.
Player of the Year
When it came time for the men’s awards in Division I, Rider College produced the Player of the Year in Jason Thompson and also the Coach of the Year in Tommy Dempsey.
Rookie of the Year honors went to Charles Jenkins of Hofstra.
Thompson also garnered first-team honors on the all-division squad. He was joined by Anthony Mason, Jr., of St. John’s; Bryant Dunston of Fordham and Brian Laing of Seton Hall.
Also, John Baumann of Columbia and Antoine Agudio of Hofstra.
Wagner’s Mark Porter and Durell Vinson topped the second team and were joined by Ryan Thompson of Rider, a sophomore and younger brother of Jason; Jarrell Brown of Army; Jaytorrah Wissh of LIU and Manny Ubilla of Fairleigh Dickinson.
Jonathan Han of Fairfield; Antoine Pearson of Manhattan; Todd Sewell of St. Peter’s; Eugene Harvey of Seton Hall; Marcus Stout of Fordham and Charles Jenkins of Hofstra comprised the third team.
As the Player of the Year, Jason Thompson received the Frank J. Haggerty Award named in memory of the Chaminade H.S. (Mineola) and St. John’s University player who was killed during World War II.
Thompson averaged 20.4 points a game – it was 29th in the NCAA nationwide – 12.1 rebounds and 91 blocked shots.
He compiled 2,040 points and 1,171 rebounds, making him just one of 96 Division I players to go over 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Dempsey, the recipient of the Peter A. Carlesimo Award as Coach of the Year which is named to honor the deceased athletic director of Fordham, posted a 23-11 record.
 |
Bryant Dunston of Fordham first-team honors on the all-division squad selected by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association.
|
The Broncs finished in a tie for the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference regular season title and Dempsey, after one season as interim coach, is now 39-26 after two years as the head man.
The men’s Division II first team included Vincent Falzone of Molloy and Manny Perez of Caldwell.
B.J. Suchy, teammate of Perez, was tabbed for the second squad along with Felician’s Devon Young.
Tim Cluess, one of several Cluess brothers to play at St. John’s and now the coach at C.W. Post College, was voted Coach of the Year.
In his second season at the Brookville, L.I., school, Tim went 26-5 and guided the Pioneers to the East Coast Conference regular season and tournament championships.
They lost in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
Richard Jean-Baptiste of Brooklyn College was a double honoree in Division III: Player of the Year and a first team choice.
Jean-Baptiste, also the City University of New York Athletic Conference Player of the Year, led the league in scoring with a 22.8 point average and in blocked shots (31) and steals (61).
|
