PHILADELPHIA, PA - Saint Joseph's senior Jameer Nelson was the overwhelming choice for Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Player of the Year in voting conducted among the Conference's head coaches.
The Atlantic 10 coaches also voted Rashaun Freeman of Massachusetts as Rookie of the Year, Richmond's Tony Dobbins as Defensive Player of the Year, Pops Mensah-Bonsu of George Washington as the Chris Daniels Award winner for the league's most improved player, Tyrone Barley of Saint Joseph's as Sixth Man of the Year, and Saint Joseph's head coach Phil Martelli as Coach of the Year. Jimmy Tricco of Duquesne was selected as the Student-Athlete of the Year in voting among the league's sports information directors.
Nelson has led his Hawks to a perfect season - 27-0 overall and 16-0 in Atlantic 10 play. The 5-11 guard from Chester, PA, who is also the leading candidate for National Player of the Year, the Bob Cousy Award as the country's most outstanding point guard, and the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the country's best player under six-feet tall, enters this week's Atlantic 10 Championship averaging a team-high 20.2 ppg - second-best in the A-10. With 1,980 career points, he is six points shy of becoming Saint Joseph's all-time leading scorer and 20 points away from becoming the 11th player in A-10 history to score 2,000 career points. His 5.3 assists per game average is third in the league, while his 2.8 steals per game ranks second. His eight A-10 Player of the Week citations break the previous record of seven set by Xavier's David West last season.
Nelson is one of only eight players to be named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference first-team three times. He joins James Bailey (Rutgers, 1977-79), Greg Jones (West Virginia, 1981-83), Rodney Blake (Saint Joseph's, 1986-88), Mark Macon (Temple, 1988-91), Jim McCoy (Massachusetts, 1990-92), Lou Roe (Massachusetts, 1993-95), and David West (Xavier, 2001-03).
Joining Nelson on the All-Conference first-team are teammate Delonte West, David Hawkins of Temple, Xavier's Romain Sato, and Keith Waleskowski of Dayton.
The All-Conference second-team consists of Dobbins and his teammate Mike Skrocki, Marques Green of St. Bonaventure, Dayton's Ramod Marshall, and Gary Neal of La Salle. On the third-team are Lionel Chalmers of Xavier, Fordham's Michael Haynes, Dawan Robinson of Rhode Island, Steve Smith of La Salle, and George Washington's T.J. Thompson.
Freeman earned seven Rookie of the Week awards in 2003-04. The 6-9 sophomore from Schenectady, NY leads the Minutemen in scoring (15.3 ppg), rebounding (8.4 rpg), and field goal percentage (.548). His scoring average is 13th in the league, while he ranks second in rebounding and third in shooting. All three rank him first among A-10 rookies. His seven Rookie of the Week awards are the fourth-most in A-10 history. Only Lamar Odom (URI, 10, 1999), Yinka Dare (GW, 9, 1993), and Mark Macon (TU, 9, 1988) won more.
Joining Freeman on the All-Rookie team are teammate Art Bowers, Carl Elliott and J.R. Pinnock of George Washington, and Gaston Moliva of Richmond.
Dobbins was named the Atlantic 10's Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year. The 6-4 senior from Mitchellville, MD is the only player to rank among the top 15 in the Atlantic 10 in steals and blocks. Dobbins is fourth in the league with a team-high 2.7 steals per game average. He is also ninth in the league with a 0.90 blocks per game average. His 7.7 rebounds per game average is sixth in the A-10 and tops the Spiders. He is also averaging 11.4 points a game.
The All-Defensive team is comprised of Dobbins, Barley, Green, Nelson, Sato, and Dwayne Jones of Saint Joseph's..
Mensah-Bonsu, who did not earn All-Rookie honors as a freshman a year ago, was named the Atlantic 10's Chris Daniels Award winner, presented to the Conference's most improved player. The 6-9 sophomore from London, England is George Washington's second leading scorer at 11.6 ppg. His 5.3 rebounds a game also are second best among the Colonials. Mensah-Bonsu has been almost automatic from the field this year, shooting at a 63.5 percent clip. (That would rank second in the league if he averaged 5.0 field goals a game.) He also has a team-best 28 blocks, all while averaging 21.0 minutes a contest. A year ago, Mensah-Bonsu averaged 10.1 points and 5.7 rebounds.
Dick Vitale called him the best sixth man in America and Barley earns the award in the A-10. The 6-1 senior from Newark, NJ started only once this season but has been an integral part of Saint Joseph's 27-0 season. Known mostly for his defense (24 steals), Barley also averages 7.1 ppg, shooting 41.2 percent (42-102) from three-point territory. He has 45 assists. He and Nelson combine to form the winningest senior tandem in school history, posting a 95-26 (.786) record.
Tricco has managed to combine academics and athletics very successfully since transferring to Duquesne from Gonzaga. The graduate student from Phoenix, AZ enters the A-10 Championship averaging 9.1 ppg and 3.3 rpg. In the classroom, Tricco has a 4.00 grade point average as he works toward his graduate degree in the school of education in marriage and family counseling. He posted an undergraduate GPA of 3.84 as a psychology major. He is a two-time member of the Atlantic 10 All-Academic team and is on the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and the Duquesne Director of Athletics Honor Roll.
Tricco is joined on the Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference team by teammates Tyler Bluemling and Jon Pawlak, Chalmers, Alexander Kireev of George Washington, and Maurice Young of St. Bonaventure.
Martelli earns his third Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year award, having been previously honored in 1996-97 and 2000-01. Martelli has led the top-ranked Hawks to a perfect 27-0 record, including a 16-0 mark in A-10 play, and their highest-ranking ever. The Hawks are just the third team in history to enter the A-10 Championship perfect in league play, joining the 1983-84 and 1987-88 Temple Owls, which posted 18-0 league ledgers. They also join the 1987-88 Owls as the only team to enter the A-10 Championship ranked first in the country. The Hawks earned the Atlantic 10 East division title for the third year in a row. In nine years on Hawk Hill, Martelli's teams have combined for a 176-97 (645) record, including a 91-53 (.632) mark in A-10 play. Only Temple's John Chaney (five times) has won Coach of the Year honors more than Martelli.
3/9/04