Men's Basketball | 2/23/2023 9:57:53 AM
St. John Fisher College junior forward Daniel Cook was named Player of the Year for the third straight year, while regular season champion Utica College earned its second straight Coaching Staff of the Year honor and defending league championship Nazareth College garnered a pair of individual honors, as the Empire 8 Conference announced its 2022-23 Men’s Basketball All-Conference awards on Thursday, February 23. The awards are voted on by the league's head coaches.
Cook is enjoying another tremendous season for the Cardinals, as he is second among all Empire 8 players in scoring and rebounding, averaging 18.5 points and 8.8 boards to go along with 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 0.8 blocks per contest, while shooting 53.3 percent from the floor, third highest in the league. Cook has scored in double figures in 24 of 26 games played this season and has seven double-doubles. He poured in a season-high 38 points on Jan. 28. It is the fifth straight season that a St. John Fisher student-athlete has earned E8 Player of the Year honors. Cook is the first three-time Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. He has scored 1,272 points and pulled down 636 rebounds, while shooting 53.2 percent from the floor in three seasons at St. John Fisher.
Nazareth forward Jonathan Park was named the 2022-23 Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year. Park is the rim protector for the Golden Flyers defense that has allowed just 64.3 points per game this season, first among all E8 teams, while Nazareth has out-scored opponents by 16.8 points per game in 18 E8 contests. Park, a three-time All-Empire 8 selection, who garnered his first All-E8 first team nod in 2022-23, leads the league with 12.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots per game. He is also averaging 13.8 points per game while shooting a league-best 57.6 percent from the floor. Park is Nazareth’s all-time leading rebounder with 963 in his tremendous career, which is third all-time in Empire 8 history.
Park’s teammate Jaylen Savage was named the E8 Rookie of the Year. Savage has appeared in all 25 games for the Golden Flyers, averaging 13.3 points per game, 3.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Savage was a six-time E8 Rookie of the Week and scored at least 20 points in a game six times this season. Savage is the fourth Nazareth student-athlete to be named E8 Men’s Basketball Rookie of the Year.
Utica head coach Sean Coffey and his staff was named the 2022-23 Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year for the second straight season. The Pioneers won the Empire 8 regular season title and set a record for league wins in a season, finishing 17-1 in league play and enter the championship tournament as the top seed. Utica is regionally ranked and has a 22-3 record entering the tournament. It is Utica’s third E8 Coaching Staff of the Year honor.
Cook and Park, along with Brewster Marshall of Alfred University in addition to Justice Brantley and Darius Hopkins of Utica garnered All-Empire 8 first team accolades. Marshall earned All-Empire 8 honors for the fourth straight season. He previously garnered second team honors three straight seasons from 2020-22. Marshall is averaging 16.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 56.7 percent from the floor and 49.5 percent from 3-point range. Brantley has enjoyed a breakout senior season for the Pioneers, leading the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 16.2 points and 7.8 boards per game, while dishing out 2.0 assists. Hopkins, the 2021-22 E8 Defensive Player of the Year is an All-E8 selection for the fourth straight season, while earning his second first team accolade. He is averaging 12.2 points this season and now has 1,397 in his tremendous collegiate career.
Top-seeded Utica will host the semifinals and championship of the 2023 Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Championship this weekend. Utica will take on No. 4 seed St. John Fisher, Friday, February 24 at 5:30 p.m. in one semifinal, while No. 2 seed Nazareth and No. 3 seed Alfred University will battle in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. The two semifinal winners will meet for 2023 Empire 8 Championship at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 26. The Empire 8 Champion receives an automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2021-22 Men's Basketball Sportsman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference 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.
2022-23 Empire 8 Men’s Basketball All-Conference Selections
Player of the Year: Daniel Cook, Sr., F, St. John Fisher
Defensive Player of the Year: Jonathan Park, Gr., F, Nazareth
Rookie of the Year: Jaylen Savage, Fr., G, Nazareth
Coaching Staff of the Year: Utica, led by Head Coach Sean Coffey
Empire 8 First Team
Brewster Marshall, Gr., F, Alfred
Jonathan Park, Gr., F, Nazareth
Daniel Cook, Sr., F, St. John Fisher
Justice Brantley, Sr., G, Utica
Darius Hopkins, Gr., G, Utica
Empire 8 Second Team
Mike Schmidt, Sr., G, Alfred
Bobby Connors, Sr., F, Hartwick
Devin Milton, Sr., G, Keuka
Jaylen Savage, Fr., G, Nazareth
Thomas Morreale, Sr., F, Utica
Empire 8 Third Team
Daunte Wilcott, So., G, Medaille
Logan Blankenberg, Sr., G, Nazareth
Jordan Haggard, Sr., G, Nazareth
Zach Stenglein, Gr., G, Nazareth
Ryan Gentile, Gr., G, St. John Fisher
Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year
Elliot Bowen, Sr., F, Alfred
Quintel Clements, Sr., F, Elmira
Cooper Francis, So., G, Hartwick
Koen Rolleman, Jr., C, Houghton
Lorenzo Bicknese, Gr., G, Keuka
Trevor Young, Sr., F, Medaille
Zach Stenglein, Gr., G, Nazareth
Mike McLaughlin, Fr., G, Russell Sage
Ryan Gentile, Gr., G, St. John Fisher
Griffin Barasa, So., G, Utica
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
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