CAA Announces Men's Basketball Postseason Accolades
Bill Potter
RICHMOND, Va. (March 6, 2020) – William & Mary senior center
Nathan Knight became just the second player in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) history to be named Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, in voting by the league’s head coaches, media relations directors and members of the media.
The awards were announced on the eve of the 2020 Hercules Tires CAA Men’s Basketball Championship, which will be held March 7-10 at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.
Also receiving top honors were William & Mary’s
Dane Fischer as the CAA Coach of the Year, Elon freshman guard
Hunter McIntosh as the CAA Rookie of the Year and Towson freshman guard
Nicolas Timberlake as the CAA Sixth Man of the Year. Hofstra senior guard
Desure Buie was chosen as the recipient of the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award and teammate
Tareq Coburn was selected as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Knight led the CAA and ranked second in the NCAA this season with 22 double-doubles and is on pace to become the fourth player in CAA history to average over 20.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game with 20.6 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest. Defensively, Knight leads the CAA with 1.5 blocks and 7.9 defensive rebounds per game. The senior currently ranks in the top 15 in the CAA record book in scoring, blocks and rebounds and is the one of three active players in the NCAA with over 2,000 career points and 900 career rebounds. Knight is one of 10 finalists for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the nation’s top center and is one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award.
Knight joins George Mason’s George Evans (1999, 2001) as the only players in CAA history to earn both Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season.
In his first year leading William & Mary, Fischer earned Coach of the Year after guiding the Tribe to its most regular-season wins (21) since the 1949-50 season and tying the school record for CAA victories (13) in a season. The Tribe set a program record with 10 road wins, while its No. 2 seed for the Hercules Tires CAA Men’s Basketball Championship is the program’s best since 2014-15. William & Mary’s 7-game improvement from 2018-19 is tied as the 28
th-best in college basketball this season.
McIntosh received Rookie of the Year accolades after leading all CAA freshman in scoring, 3-point shooting and 3-pointers made. The Phoenix guard averaged 11.5 points while connecting on 41.0-percent of his 3-pointers. In 31 games, McIntosh knocked down 71 triples. The freshman went over the 20-point mark four times, including a career-high 27 points on Feb. 20. McIntosh is the first Elon player to receive CAA Rookie of the Year honors since 2015.
Timberlake is the recipient of the Sixth Man of the Year award, which is given to a standout player who started fewer than 50-percent of his team’s conference games. Coming off the bench in all 27 Towson games, Timberlake posted six games with 10 or more points, including in two of his last three games. The redshirt freshman posted a career-high 15 points in the Tigers’ win over Tulane on Dec. 21.
Buie received the Ehlers Award, which is presented annually to the men’s basketball student-athlete who “embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity and sportsmanship in conjunction with his academic athletic achievement.” After earning his undergraduate degree from Hofstra, Buie is currently earning his M.E. in Higher Education Leadership & Policy Studies, holding a 3.92 grade-point average. On the court, Buie leads the CAA with 5.9 assists while pacing Hofstra with 18.5 points per game. A season after earning CAA Defensive Player of the Year honors, Buie is once again on the CAA’s All-Defensive Team after recording over 2.0 steals per game.
Coburn was selected as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The senior has a 3.65 GPA while majoring in community health. A CoSIDA Academic All-District I selection on Feb. 20, Coburn will be a candidate on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. On the court, Coburn is one of five Hofstra players ranked in the top 25 of the CAA in scoring, averaging 11.0 points. The lefty is connecting on over 40-percent of his 3-point field goals and has hit 64 entering the CAA Championship.
Joining Knight on the All-CAA First Team were Hofstra’s Buie, Charleston senior guard
Grant Riller, Northeastern senior guard
Jordan Roland and Delaware junior guard
Nate Darling.
After earning third team accolades in 2019, Buie jumped to the first team after leading Hofstra to the outright CAA regular-season title for the second straight season. The senior leads the Pride with 18.5 points and 5.9 assists per game, the latter figure topping the CAA. Buie became the 38
th player in Hofstra history to eclipse 1,000 career points earlier in the season. Buie’s 44 points on Jan. 4, 2020, marked a career high and are the CAA’s single-game best this season.
For the third straight season, Riller finds himself an All-CAA First Team selection. The Cougars’ guard sits second in the CAA, averaging 21.7 points and ranks fourth in assists (3.9) and 17
th in rebounding (5.2). Riller climbed the CAA’s all-time scoring list throughout the season and enters the CAA Championship ranked third in CAA history with 2,448 points. On 20 occasions this season Riller has eclipsed 20 points, the most in the CAA.
Roland burst onto the scene in his senior season, leading the CAA with 22.7 points per game. In his first two games of the regular season, Roland combined for 81 points, including a career-high 42 in Northeastern’s win versus Harvard on Nov. 8. Roland’s six games with 30 or more points lead the CAA, while his 83 3-pointers rank second in the conference. A redshirt-senior, Roland was a Third Team All-CAA selection in 2018-19.
In his first season of eligibility with Delaware, Darling was one of four players in the CAA averaging over 20 points per game, ranking third at 21.1 ppg. The redshirt-junior leads the CAA with 99 3-pointers on the year, currently tied for the 10
th-best single-season total in CAA history. Darling’s 99 3-pointers set the Delaware single-season record, and he is just the fifth player in program history with 600-plus points in a season.
Earning Second Team All-CAA honors were Towson senior guard
Brian Fobbs (16.1 ppg/4.9 rpg), James Madison junior guard
Matt Lewis (19.0 ppg/5.6 rpg), Hofstra senior guard
Eli Pemberton (17.3 ppg/5.4 rpg), Elon graduate guard
Marcus Sheffield II (18.6 ppg/5.2 rpg) and Drexel sophomore guard
Camren Wynter (16.1 ppg/5.3 apg).
Named to the All-CAA third team were Delaware junior guard
Kevin Anderson (11.6 ppg/3.8 apg), Towson sophomore guard
Allen Betrand (14.2 ppg/40.4 3FG%), Drexel junior forward
James Butler (13.4 ppg/11.6 rpg), Hofstra sophomore forward/center
Isaac Kante (11.5 ppg/7.4 rpg) and William & Mary senior forward
Andy Van Vliet (13.3 ppg/8.6 rpg).
2019-20 CAA MEN’S BASKETBALL AWARD WINNERS
| First Team All-CAA |
Cl. |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Hometown/High School |
| Desure Buie, Hofstra |
Sr. |
G |
5-11 |
160 |
Bronx, N.Y./Wings Academy |
| Nate Darling, Delaware |
R-Jr. |
G |
6-5 |
200 |
Halifax, Nova Scotia/DeMatha (Md.) |
| Nathan Knight, William & Mary |
Sr. |
F/C |
6-10 |
253 |
Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham |
| Grant Riller, Charleston |
Sr. |
G |
6-3 |
190 |
Ocoee, Fla./Ocoee |
| Jordan Roland, Northeastern |
R-Sr. |
G |
6-1 |
171 |
Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Second Team All-CAA |
Cl. |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Hometown/High School |
| Brian Fobbs, Towson |
Sr. |
G |
6-5 |
210 |
Rochester, N.Y./Bishop Kearney |
| Matt Lewis, James Madison |
Jr. |
G |
6-5 |
195 |
Woodbridge, Va./Bishop O’Connell |
| Eli Pemberton, Hofstra |
Sr. |
G |
6-5 |
195 |
Middletown, Conn./Cheshire Academy |
| Marcus Sheffield II, Elon |
Gr. |
G/F |
6-5 |
180 |
Alpharetta, Ga./Chattahoochee |
| Camren Wynter, Drexel |
So. |
G |
6-2 |
175 |
Hempstead, N.Y./DME (Fla.) Academy |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Third Team All-CAA |
Cl. |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Hometown/High School |
| Kevin Anderson, Delaware |
Jr. |
G |
6-5 |
190 |
Williamsport, Pa./St. John Neumann |
| Allen Betrand, Towson |
So. |
G |
6-5 |
200 |
Philadelphia, Pa./Roman Catholic |
| James Butler, Drexel |
Jr. |
F |
6-8 |
242 |
Fairfax Station, Va./Lake Braddock |
| Isaac Kante, Hofstra |
So. |
F/C |
6-7 |
240 |
Brooklyn, N.Y./Paul Robeson |
| Andy Van Vliet, William & Mary |
Sr. |
F/C |
7-0 |
231 |
Antwerp, Belgium |
2019-20 CAA Player of the Year: Nathan Knight, William & Mary
2019-20 CAA Rookie of the Year: Hunter McIntosh, Elon
2019-20 CAA Defensive Player of the Year: Nathan Knight, William & Mary
2019-20 CAA Sixth Man of the Year: Nicolas Timberlake, Towson
2019-20 Dean Ehlers Leadership Award: Desure Buie, Hofstra
2019-20 CAA Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tareq Coburn, Hofstra
2019-20 CAA Coach of the Year: Dane Fischer, William & Mary
| CAA All-Rookie Team |
Cl. |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Hometown/High School |
| Jason Gibson, Towson |
Fr. |
G |
6-1 |
165 |
Severna Park, Md./Sidwell Friends |
| Hunter McIntosh, Elon |
Fr. |
G |
6-3 |
180 |
Snellville, Ga./Greater Atlanta Christian |
| Shykeim Phillips, UNCW |
Fr. |
G |
6-0 |
170 |
Winterville, N.C./South Central |
| Tyson Walker, Northeastern |
Fr. |
G |
6-0 |
162 |
Westbury, N.Y./Christ the King |
| Hunter Woods, Elon |
Fr. |
G/F |
6-6 |
193 |
Pasadena, Calif./John Muir |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| CAA All-Defensive Team |
Cl. |
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Hometown/High School |
| Desure Buie, Hofstra |
Sr. |
G |
5-11 |
160 |
Bronx, N.Y./Wings Academy |
| Brevin Galloway, Charleston |
Jr. |
G |
6-2 |
215 |
Anderson, S.C./Seneca |
| Nathan Knight, William & Mary |
Sr. |
F/C |
6-10 |
253 |
Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham |
| Luke Loewe, William & Mary |
Jr. |
G |
6-4 |
188 |
Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac |
| Dennis Tunstall, Towson |
R-Sr. |
F |
6-9 |
225 |
Willingboro, N.J./Life Center Academy |