Men's Basketball | 2/27/2025 1:58:43 PM
Junior guard Jaylen Savage of Nazareth University was named Player of the Year, as the Empire 8 Conference announced its 2024-25 Men’s Basketball All-Conference awards on Thursday, February 27. The awards are voted on by the league's head coaches.
Regular season champion SUNY Brockport, led by head coach Joe Clarke earned Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year honor, while Russell Sage sophomore forward Avery Oduro-Dompreh was named the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year and Nazareth forward Merritt Holly garnered E8 Rookie of the Year honors.
Savage is enjoying another banner season for the Golden Flyers, as he leads all Empire 8 players in scoring, averaging 21.0 points per game, shooting 87.9 percent from the foul line to go along with 6.1 boards and 1.6 steals per game. He averaged 21.1 points on 47 percent shooting from the floor in league play this season. Savage, who has 1,281 points in three seasons with the Golden Flyers, scored at least 20 points in 15 different games this season, including four different 30-point outings. He averaged 28.5 points in two E8 Tournament games this season. Savage is Nazareth’s sixth Empire 8 Player of the Year in program history and first since Tyler Stenglein in 2017-18.
Holly, a native of LeRoy, NY earned E8 Rookie of the Year honors after averaging 10.6 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while shooting a league-best 63.7 percent from the field. In league play, Holly averaged 11.4 points and 7.8 boards per contest. Holly, a five-time Empire 8 Rookie of the Week, recorded six double-doubles. He is Nazareth’s fifth Empire 8 Rookie of the Year in program history.
Oduro-Dompreh, a native of Elkridge, MD, enjoyed a breakout season for the Gators, leading a stout defense that allowed the fewest points per game in the league (66.5 points per game) and lowest field goal percentage by a wide margin (38.9 percent). He led the league with 1.4 blocks per game and had just under a steal per game, while snagging 7.5 rebounds per game. In league play, Oduro-Dompreh, a forward, blocked nearly two shots per game and shot 62 percent from the floor. He was named the E8 Player of the Week on Feb. 24 after shooting 86.4 percent from the floor over his final two contests.
Brockport head coach Joe Clarke and assistant coaches Seth Johnston, Shawn Harris and David Grady III were named the 2024-25 Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year. The Golden Eagles won the Empire 8 regular season title, finishing 14-2 in league play. Brockport is the highest scoring team in the E8, averaging 81.7 points per game and have caused the most turnovers per game in the league this season at 15.9 per contest. The Golden Eagles feature seven players averaging at least 7.5 points per game this season and seven who play at least 20 minutes.
Savage, along with Damien Call of Utica garnered All-Empire 8 first team accolades for the second straight season. Dayion Thompson of Utica, Luke Insley of Nazareth, Brockport’s Mekhi Beckett, and the SUNY Poly duo of LaMarqus Merchant, Jr. and Anthony Rose were also first team selections. Thompson is fourth in the nation, shooting 91.4 percent from the foul line, while Insley is second nationally with 6.7 assists per game and leads Division III with a 4.62 assists/turnover ratio. Merchant recorded the E8’s lone triple-double this season at Elmira on Feb. 15.
No. 2 Utica University will host No. 4 SUNY Poly in the 2025 Empire 8 Men’s Basketball Championship at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 1. The Empire 8 Champion receives an automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2024-25 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.
2024-25 Empire 8 Men’s Basketball All-Conference Selections
Player of the Year: Jaylen Savage, Jr., G, Nazareth
Defensive Player of the Year: Avery Oduro-Dompreh, So., F, Russell Sage
Rookie of the Year: Merritt Holly, Fr., F, Nazareth
Coaching Staff of the Year: SUNY Brockport, led by Head Coach Joe Clarke
Empire 8 First Team
Mekhi Beckett, Sr., G/F, SUNY Brockport (Westbury, NY/Wepham)
Luke Insley, Sr., G, Nazareth (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder)
Jaylen Savage, Jr., G, Nazareth (Elmsford, NY/Alexander Hamilton)
LaMarqus Merchant Jr., Sr., G, SUNY Poly (Utica, NY/Utica Academy of Science)
Anthony Rose, Jr., F, SUNY Poly (Bronx, NY/Fannie Lou Hammer Freedom)
Damien Call, Gr., F, Utica (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy)
Dayion Thompson, Jr., G, Utica (Beacon, NY/Kimball Union Academy)
Empire 8 Second Team
Amoi Charles, Jr., G/F, Alfred (Elmont, NY/H. Frank Carey)
Lou Bellamy, So., F, Houghton (Tampa, FL/Johnson University)
Jajuan Preaster, Sr., G/F, Houghton (Orlando, FL/Central Florida Christian)
Christian Sage, Gr., G, Houghton (Owego, NY/Owego Free Academy)
Cheickne Toure, Sr., G, SUNY Poly (Bronx, NY/Fannie Lou Hammer Freedom)
Trevor Green, Jr., G, Russell Sage (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh)
Hagen Foley, Sr., F, Utica (Albany, NY/Christian Brothers Academy)
Empire 8 Third Team
Tony Arnold, Sr., G, SUNY Brockport (Rochester, NY/Eastridge)
Zachary Rice, Jr., G, SUNY Brockport (Brunswick, NY/Tamarac)
Josh Garelle, So., G/F, SUNY Geneseo (Rockville Centre, NY/South Side)
Tyler Hind, Jr., G, Alfred (Randolph, NY/Randolph)
Akinlana Popoola, Jr., G, Keuka (Cleveland, OH/Padua Franciscan)
Daimarr Miller, Sr., G, SUNY Poly (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran)
Noah Girard, Sr., G, Russell Sage (Glens Falls, NY/Glens Falls)
Brandon Harris, Jr., G, Russell Sage (Elmsford, NY/Alexander Hamilton)
Empire 8 Sportsman of the Year
Oscar Wolter, Sr., F, Alfred (Munich, Germany/Lycee Jean Renoir)
Colby Jordan, Sr., G, SUNY Brockport (Wheatley Heights, NY/Half Hollow Hills East)
AJ Graham, Fr., G, Elmira (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa)
Michael Gentile, Gr., G, SUNY Geneseo (Rochester, NY/Bishop Kearney)
Mike Gitz, So., G, Hartwick (Commack, NY/Commack)
Luke Cole, Sr., F, Houghton (Houghton, NY/Fillmore)
Tyler Green, Jr., G, Keuka (Sackets Harbor, NY/Sackets Harbor)
Jack Broderick, Sr., F, Nazareth (Fulton, NY/Fulton)
Dylan Ernst, Sr., F, SUNY Poly (Rome, NY/Holland Patent)
Todd Williamson, Sr., F, Russell Sage (Schenectady, NY/Notre Dame Bishop Gibbons)
Cole Thompson, Sr., G, St. John Fisher (Louisville, KY/Louisville Collegiate)
Ben Wittman, Jr., F, Utica (Sherill, NY/Vernon-Verona-Sherill)
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
www.empire8.com.
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