JMU's Lewis Headlines 2020-21 CAA Men's Basketball Postseason Awards
Rob Washburn
RICHMOND, Va. (March 5, 2021) – James Madison senior guard
Matt Lewis has been named the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Player of the Year, in voting by the league’s head coaches, media relations directors and members of the media.
The awards were announced in advance of the 2021 Hercules Tires CAA Men’s Basketball Championship, which will be held March 6-9 at the Atlantic Union Bank Center on the campus of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va.
Also receiving top honors were James Madison’s
Mark Byington as the CAA Coach of the Year, William & Mary freshman guard
Connor Kochera as the CAA Rookie of the Year, Northeastern sophomore guard
Tyson Walker as CAA Defensive Player of the Year and Northeastern freshman guard
Jahmyl Telfort as the CAA Sixth Man of the Year. Hofstra senior guard
Tareq Coburn was chosen as the recipient of both the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award and the CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Lewis leads the conference in scoring at 19.7 points per game and is also among the league’s top 10 in assists (3.7 apg/5
th) and steals (1.4 spg/7
th). He was named the USBWA Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week on Jan. 19. Lewis ranks third on JMU’s career scoring list with 1,928 points and also has 506 career rebounds. It was announced on Feb. 26 that Lewis will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury. He is the first JMU player to be named CAA Player of the Year since Steve Hood in 1990-91.
In his first season at James Madison, Byington earned Coach of the Year after guiding the Dukes to a share of the CAA regular-season title and the top seed in the upcoming CAA Men’s Basketball Championship. The Dukes closed the season with victories in seven of their last eight games and went from finishing 10
th in the CAA a year ago to the top spot. The regular-season title is the first for the Dukes since 2014-15 and he’s the first JMU coach to receive the honor since 1999-2000.
Kochera earned Rookie of the Year honors after leading all CAA freshman in scoring with 13.9 points per game. He was named the USBWA Freshman of the Week on Feb. 3 after averaging 26.5 ppg in a pair of victories at Towson. The Tribe guard became only the seventh freshman in William & Mary history to score 30-or-more points in a game and the only CAA freshman to score 30 points in a game this season. Kochera is the first Tribe player to be named Rookie of the Year since 2014.
Walker was named the CAA Defensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in steals with 2,2 per game. The sophomore guard had at least one steal in 15 of his 17 games and recorded five steals in a game three times. Walker is the fourth NU player to be selected as Defensive Player of the Year.
Telfort 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. The freshman guard was second on the team in scoring at 10.6 points per game and also contributed 3.8 rebounds per contest. He scored in double figure nine times, with five of those performances coming in conference play.
Coburn receives 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”, for the first time and was selected as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row. The senior has a 3.75 GPA while majoring in community health. A CoSIDA Academic All-District I selection last season, Coburn was named to the NABC Honors Court. On the court, Coburn is the Pride’s second-leading at 15.7 points per game and he was named to the All-CAA third team.
Joining Lewis on the All-CAA First Team were Delaware’s Dylan Painter, Hofstra’s Jalen Ray, Drexel’s Camren Wynter and Northeastern’s Walker. This is the first time on the first team for all five players. Lewis and Wynter made the second team last season.
Earning Second Team All-CAA honors were Zep Jasper of Charleston, Isaac Kante of Hofstra, Luke Loewe of William & Mary, Zane Martin of Towson and Hunter McIntosh of Elon. Kante was named to the third team last season and McIntosh was the 2019-20 CAA Rookie of the Year.
Selected to the All-CAA third team were Ryan Allen of Delaware, James Butler of Drexel, Coburn, Vado Morse of James Madison and Mike Okauru of UNCW.
2020-21 CAA MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTSEASON AWARD WINNERS
First Team All-CAA................... Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
Matt Lewis, James Madison.......... Sr. G 6-5 195 Woodbridge, Va./Bishop O’Connell
Dylan Painter, Delaware............. r-Sr. F 6-10 235 Hershey, Pa./Villanova
Jalen Ray, Hofstra....................... Sr. G 6-2 175 Hampton, Va./Hampton
Tyson Walker, Northeastern......... So. G 6-0 170 Westbury, N.Y./New Hampton
Camren Wynter, Drexel................ Jr. G 6-2 175 Hempstead, N.Y./DME (Fla.) Academy
Second Team All-CAA............... Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
Zep Jasper, Charleston................ Jr. G 6-1 170 Augusta, Ga./Laney
Isaac Kante, Hofstra..................... Jr. F/C 6-7 240 Brooklyn, N.Y./Paul Robeson
Luke Loewe, William & Mary......... Sr. G 6-4 186 Fond Du Lac, Wis./Fond Du Lac
Zane Martin, Towson................. r-Sr. G 6-4 205 Philadelphia, Pa./Neuemann-Goretti
Hunter McIntosh, Elon................. So. G 6-2 185 Snellville, Ga./Greater Atlanta Christian
Third Team All-CAA.................. Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
Ryan Allen, Delaware.................. Sr. G 6-2 200 Bowie, Md./DeMatha
James Butler, Drexel................... Gr. F 6-8 242 Fairfax Station, Va./Lake Braddock
Tareq Coburn, Hofstra................. Sr. G 6-5 205 Queens, N.Y./St. Bonaventure
Vado Morse, James Madison........ Jr. G 6-0 170 Suitland, Md./Mount St. Mary’s
Mike Okauru, UNCW................... Sr. G 6-3 185 Raleigh, N.C./Brewster Academy
2020-21 CAA Player of the Year: Matt Lewis, James Madison
2020-21 CAA Rookie of the Year: Connor Kochera, William & Mary
2020-21 CAA Defensive Player of the Year: Tyson Walker, Northeastern
2020-21 CAA Sixth Man of the Year: Jahmyl Telfort, Northeastern
2020-21 Dean Ehlers Leadership Award: Tareq Coburn, Hofstra
2020-21 CAA Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Tareq Coburn, Hofstra
2020-21 CAA Coach of the Year: Mark Byington, James Madison
CAA All-Rookie Team................ Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
Justin Amadi, James Madison....... Fr. F 6-7 220 Greenville, S.C./Dorman
Darius Burford, Elon.................... Fr. G 6-0 160 Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook
Kvonn Cramer, Hofstra................. Fr. F 6-6 205 Wilmington, Del./Mount Pleasant
Connor Kochera, William & Mary... Fr. G 6-5 200 Arlington Heights, Ill./Saint Viator
Jahmyl Telfort, Northeastern......... Fr. G 6-7 230 Boucherville, Que./New Hampton
CAA All-Defensive Team........... Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School
Mehkel Harvey, William & Mary...... Jr. F/C 6-9 225 Huntington Beach, Calif./Ocean View
Zep Jasper, Charleston................ Jr. G 6-1 170 Augusta, Ga./Laney
Luke Loewe, William & Mary.......... Jr. G 6-4 188 Fond du Lac, Wis./Fond du Lac
Dylan Painter, Delaware............. r-Sr. F 6-10 235 Hershey, Pa./Villanova
Charles Thompson, Towson......... So. F 6-7 235 Fort Washington, Md./St. Stephens & St. Agnes
Tyson Walker, Northeastern......... So. G 6-0 170 Westbury, N.Y./New Hampton