Men's Basketball All-Conference Announced: Jones, Lott and Hurley Earn Yearly Awards
ROCHESTER, NY – The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year awards for the 2012-13 men’s basketball season. The conference coaches vote on the awards and all-conference teams.
The Player of the Year award goes to Stevens Institute of Technology’s
Sheldon Jones. Jones, a senior guard, is the first Duck to earn the top conference honor. He leads the Ducks in scoring this season, averaging 16.9 points per contest. An efficient scorer, Jones has shot 46 percent from the field and 87.6 percent from the line. He averages 3.7 rebounds per game and has accumulated 38 assists and 14 steals for the Ducks in his 25 starts. He poured in 20 or more points nine times this season, led the team in scoring on 12 different occasions.
St. John Fisher College freshman
Chaz Lott was named the Rookie of the Year. He has started all 25 games and averaged 11 points while shooting 51.8 percent from the field, 40 percent from the arc and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. In addition he has grabbed 5.2 rebounds and dished out 4.4 assists per game. He led Fisher in scoring in three games and was named the Rookie of the Week six times. Lott is Fisher’s third E8 Rookie of the Year recipient. He joins previous winners Ozell Franklin (2008) and Jeff Sidney (2002).
Stevens head coach
Bobby Hurley has been named the Coach of the Year. In his fifth season guiding the Ducks, his team posted an 11-3 mark in conference play and went on to earn the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament for the first time since joining the Empire 8. Stevens has been ranked in D3hoops.com top 25 poll several times throughout the season and are third in the latest East Region ranking. This marks Hurley’s second Coach of the Year award, previously earning recognition in the 2010-11 season.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2012-13 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.
2012-13 All-Conference Teams