Ryan, Chasin, St. John Fisher Coaching Staff Take Tops Honors in Men's Basketball
ROCHESTER, NY – The Empire 8 Athletic Conference has announced the Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coaching Staff of the Year awards for the 2014-15 men’s basketball season. The conference coaches vote on the awards and all-conference teams.
The Player of the Year award goes to St. John Fisher’s
Keegan Ryan. A sophomore, Ryan is the third Cardinal to earn the honor. Ryan finished fourth in the conference in scoring (16.2), was third in rebounds (9.8) and led the conference with a .597 shooting percentage. He contributed 10 double-doubles on the year, with season highs of 26 points and 18 rebounds. Ryan reached double figures in scoring in all but two contests. He was named E8 Player of the Week on one occasion.
Ithaca freshman
Marc Chasin was named the Rookie of the Year. He is the second Ithaca player to earn the honor. Chasin averaged 14.8 points per game, good enough for ninth in the E8 and tops among rookies. He also pulled down 4.7 boards per contest, hit 46 percent from the field, 39 percent from three and 84 percent from the charity stripe. He earned three E8 Rookie of the Week honors and one Player of the Week nod during the season. He exceeded 30 points in two games, including a season-high 38 points against Stevens.
St. John Fisher College, led by
Rob Kornaker, takes the Coaching Staff of the Year award. It is the seventh time Kornaker or his staff has received the honor. The Cardinals finished the regular season with a 21-4 record and a 14-2 mark in conference play. Kornaker guided the Cardinals to as high as No. 16 in the NCAA Division III national polls. St. John Fisher led the conference and was among the top-30 in the nation in scoring defense (61.2 ppg). Their scoring margin of 16.3 ranks No. 5 in Division III. The Cardinals, currently ranked No. 24 in the nation, will host the Empire 8 Tournament as the No. 1 seed this weekend.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2014-15 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.
Empire 8 2014-15 Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams