ROCHESTER, NY – Senior center Phil Barera of conference regular season champion Ithaca College was selected as the Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Player of the Year as the conference named its 2011 Men’s Basketball All-Conference Team. He was named to the all-conference first team for the second consecutive year.
Barera enters conference tournament play averaging 17.4 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, and easily leads the conference with a 66.8 shooting percentage from the floor, which ranks him second in the nation. His conference statistics nearly mirror his overall numbers, averaging 17.7 points, and 9.4 rebounds, while shooting 66.5 percent from the field.
Joining Barera on the first-team all-conference was sophomore teammate Sean Rossi, the 2009-10 Rookie of the Year. Rossi leads the country with 9.7 assists per game and ranks fourth in assist-to-turnover ration at 3.5. He also averages 11.7 points and 2.3 rebounds.
Senior guard James Patterson was named to the all-conference first team after earning honorable mention recognition last season. He led all Empire 8 scorers, averaging 18.3 points per game and ranked third in assists with 4.2 per game.
Junior forward Simon Smith, who became the all-time rebounding leader at Stevens Institute of Technology this season, was named a first-team all-conference player. He averages nearly four rebounds per game more than the second-ranked player in the Empire 8 with 12.3 rebounds per game and ranks second in field goal percentage, shooting 59.8 percent.
Junior forward Chris Ryder of Hartwick College garnered first-team all-conference accolades after leading all scorers in conference play, averaging 18.7 points per game. Overall, he is averaging 17.9 points and 7.9 boards per game.
Jared Suderley of the Hawks was the unanimous selection as Empire 8 Rookie of the Year and earned second-team all-conference honors. He enters the postseason averaging 17.2 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Bobby Hurley was named Empire 8 Coach of the Year for leading Stevens to the second seed in the conference tournament after being chosen to finish sixth in the preseason poll.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2011 Men’s Basketball Sportsman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
2011 Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Honors
Player of the Year: Phil Barera, Ithaca College
Rookie of the Year: Jared Suderley, Hartwick College
Coach of the Year: Bobby Hurley, Stevens Institute of Technology
Empire 8 Men's Basketball All-Conference Release