MORE HONORS FOR SAGE'S BRIAN BARNES AND KAI DEANS AS ECAC RELEASES TEAMS
Danbury, CT--The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) announced its 2014-15 Division III Metro Men's Basketball All-Star Teams. The College of Staten Island junior Will Fonseca (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Stockton University senior Josh Blamon (Cinnaminson, N.J.) were selected as ECAC Co-Players of the Year, while freshman Chimaechi Ekekeugbor (Matawan, N.J.) of Baruch College was tabbed as the Rookie of the Year. The Sage Colleges Head Coach Brian Barnes was slotted as the 2014-15 ECAC Coach of the Year. The voting was completed by coaches within the ECAC Division III Metro Region.
Barnes, the Skyline Conference of the Year, guided the Gators to a program-record 23 victories this season. In addition, the NABC Atlantic Region Coach of the Year led Sage to the program's first-ever Skyline Conference Tournament Championship, as well as the regular-season league title. Sage recorded an 84-70 win over St. Joseph's College (L.I.) to earn its first-ever berth into the NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship and finish the season on an 11-game winning streak. The Gators compiled a 15-3 record in the Skyline and a perfect 13-0 mark at home this season, defeating teams by an average of 13.4 points per game. Also under Barnes' leadership, senior forward Kai Deans (Miami, FL/Monsignor Pace) became the program's first-ever All-American when he was named a third teamer by the NABC.
Deans, a team tri-captain, earned Skyline Conference Player of the Year honors as well as a selection to the NABC Atlantic Region First Team, as well as a spot on the 2014-2015 D3hoops.com Atlantic Region First Team. The awards are all firsts for Sage's men's basketball team as Deans set records along the way this year for most points in a game (33) and most points in a season (468). He closed his career with 826 points in just two seasons as a Gator.
Dean's finished with a team-best 19 points in the Gators' NCAA contest with Amherst College, marking the 14th time this year he paced the team on the hardwood. He caps his stellar career having helped to rewrite the basketball record book. He stands No. 4 all-time in scoring and No. 5 in career rebounding while setting a new standard for best career point per game average with a 17.3 ppg average. He is ranked nationally in 12 different categories in the latest NCAA statistics release. He finished the season with a 53.7 FG% and added a 71.9% effort from the line with 35 blocked shots and added 231 rebounds on the year in 27 starts.
2014-15 ECAC Division III Metro Men's Basketball All-Star Team
ECAC Co-Players of the Year
Will Fonseca, Junior, College of Staten Island
Josh Blamon, Senior, Stockton University
ECAC Rookie of the Year
Chimaechi Ekekeugbor, Freshman, Baruch College
ECAC Coach of the Year
Brian Barnes, The Sage Colleges
First Team*
Will Fonseca, Junior, The College of Staten Island
Terik Bridgeman, Junior, William Paterson University
Josh Blamon, Senior, Stockton University
Kai Deans, Senior, The Sage Colleges
Granville Gittens, Sophomore, Baruch College
Evan Kupferberg, Junior, New York University
Second Team*
Egzon Gjonbalaj, Junior, Brooklyn College
Tommy Soulias, Junior, Kean University
Jordan McDaniel, Junior, Rutgers University-Newark
Wyatt Polk, Junior, Rutgers University-Camden
Frankie Schettino, Sophomore, The College of Staten Island
Hakeem Harris, Junior, New York University
*Additional players added due to ties