CAA Men's Basketball Annual Awards Unveiled; Hofstra's Thomas Named Player of the Year

3/7/2024 1:59:10 PM

Miles McQuiggan

RICHMOND, Va. (March 7, 2024) – For the first time in over 20 years, three consecutive CAA Men’s Basketball Player of the Year selections have come from the same league member, while the annual awards also feature the first three-time Defensive Player of the Year selection in CAA history.

Voting was conducted in a poll of the CAA’s 14 head coaches following the conclusion of the regular season. Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players. Honorees will be recognized at the 2024 Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Championship, which will be played March 8-12 at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, D.C.

Hofstra’s Tyler Thomas was voted by the CAA’s coaches as Player of the Year. Thomas has been one of the nation’s most prolific scorers this season, ranking third in the nation through the conclusion of the regular season with 22.3 points per game for the No. 3 seed in the CAA Championship. The graduate student from New Haven has scored in double figures in all but one game this season, has 19 games of 20 or more points, and four of 30 or more. Thomas is a nominee for the Oscar Robertson Trophy and the sixth Player of the Year from Hofstra in the last nine seasons; he makes the Pride the first CAA member to win three straight since George Mason from 1999 to 2001.

Drexel’s Amari Williams is the first to three-peat as CAA Defensive Player of the Year in the award’s existence and brings the award back to Philadelphia for the seventh time in 23 seasons. The big man from England leads the league with 1.8 blocks per game and is fifth in rebounding at 7.8 for a Drexel team that ranks in the top 30 nationally in scoring defense. Williams has helped lead Drexel to its first 20-win season and first top-two seed in the CAA Championship since 2012.

Towson’s Tyler Tejada is the CAA’s Rookie of the Year and the Tigers’ first since joining the league. Tejada was second on the Tigers with 10.1 points per game while helping the Tigers to a fifth-place finish in the CAA. The guard from North Jersey shot 42% and made 39 three-pointers with 26 of them coming in league play. Tejada was in double figures five times in league play including a 30-point performance in the Tigers’ win over Monmouth two weeks ago.

The CAA Sixth Man of the Year is Charleston’s Bryce Butler. Butler was key to the depth of a Charleston bench that ranks eighth nationally with 31.3 points per game for the top-seeded Cougars. The grad transfer from West Liberty contributed 8.3 of those and was in double figures six times in league play, including a strong start to the CAA schedule that earned him Player of the Week honors in early January. Charleston is in the top 10 in the nation in bench scoring for the second-straight year.

Delaware’s Christian Ray was recognized as the Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Ray is the CAA’s leading rebounder this year at 9.0 per game, a leader in the locker room as a two-time team captain, and a leader in the classroom with a 3.93 GPA as a senior double major in Accounting and Finance. Ray reached the 1,000-point and rebound plateaus during conference play and has been a conference academic honor roll selection in every season prior to and during his Delaware career. Ray has taken the LSAT twice and scored in the 91st percentile on both occasions.

Elon’s Zac Ervin was selected as the winner of the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award. Ervin will close his Elon career as one of the Phoenix’s top three-point shooters in program history but with a legacy beyond the perimeter. The team captain and SAAC member finished his degree in Project Management with a 3.69 GPA and is working on his Master’s in Business Analytics. Ervin, who was CAA Scholar-Athlete of the Year last season, has also been active in Elon’s Christmas Cheer project and with the Allied Churches Food Ministry.

The Dean Ehlers Award is given annually to both a men's and women's basketball student-athlete in the CAA who "embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity and sportsmanship in conjunction with his/her academic and athletic achievement."

Charleston’s third-year head coach, Pat Kelsey, was chosen by his peers as CAA Coach of the Year. Kelsey steered Charleston to a 24-7 mark in the regular season and helped the Cougars to be the first team to win the CAA regular season title by multiple games in over a decade. Charleston heads to D.C. on its second nine-game winning streak of the year with a league-leading 81.0 points per game. Charleston’s .774 overall winning percentage ranks in the top 25 nationally and the Cougars’ .833 win percentage in true road games is third among all Division I teams.

The 15 All-CAA selections were spread across 10 league members, with Charleston collecting three and Drexel, Hofstra, and UNCW earning two each.

All-CAA First Team

Ante Brzovic	Charleston	Jr.	F	Zagreb, Croatia
Xander Rice	Monmouth	Gr.	G	West Long Branch, N.J.
Tyler Thomas	Hofstra	Gr.	G	New Haven, Conn.
Trazarien White	UNCW	Jr.	F	Mansfield, Texas
Amari Williams	Drexel	Sr.	F	Nottingham, England

All-CAA Second Team

Jyáre Davis	Delaware	R-Jr.	F	Newark, Del.
Anthony Dell’Orso	Campbell	So.	G	Melbourne, Australia
Darlinstone Dubar	Hofstra	Jr.	G	Charlotte, N.C.
Reyne Smith	Charleston	Jr.	G	Ulverstone, Australia
Tyler Stephenson-Moore	Stony Brook	Gr.	G	Jamaica, N.Y.

All-CAA Third Team

Ben Burnham	Charleston	Jr.	F	Fort Mill, S.C.
Landon Glasper	North Carolina A&T	So.	G	Fayetteville, Ark.
Justin Moore	Drexel	So.	G	Philadelphia, Pa.
Shykeim Phillips	UNCW	Gr.	G	Winterville, N.C.
Charles Thompson	Towson	Gr.	F	Fort Washington, Md.

CAA All-Rookie Team

Nick Dorn	Elon	Fr.	G	Charlotte, N.C.
James Scott	Charleston	Fr.	F	Fayetteville, N.C.
Tyler Tejada	Towson	Fr.	G	Teaneck, N.J.
Jaret Valencia	Monmouth	R-Fr.	F	Quibdó, Colombia
Dylan Williamson	Towson	R-Fr.	G	Upper Marlboro, Md.

CAA All-Defensive Team

Jaquan Carlos	Hofstra	Jr.	G	Brooklyn, N.Y.
Shykeim Phillips	UNCW	Gr.	G	Winterville, N.C.
Charles Thompson	Towson	Gr.	F	Fort Washington, Md.
Jaret Valencia	Monmouth	R-Fr.	F	Quibdó, Colombia
Amari Williams	Drexel	Sr.	F	Nottingham, England

Player of the Year: Tyler Thomas, Hofstra
Defensive Player of the Year: Amari Williams, Drexel
Rookie of the Year: Tyler Tejada, Towson
Sixth Man of the Year: Bryce Butler, Charleston
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Christian Ray, Delaware
Dean Ehlers Leadership Award: Zac Ervin, Elon
Coach of the Year: Pat Kelsey, Charleston

Follow #CAAHoops on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get up-to-date information and learn more about CAA member institutions and their basketball programs.