For the second time in America East history, one school has won each of the top three individual men's basketball awards as head coach Tom Brennan, sophomore guard T.J. Sorrentine and rookie forward Taylor Coppenrath, all of the University of Vermont, were honored. The awards were announced at the America East Men's Basketball Banquet at the Omni Parker House Ballroom in Boston.
Brennan was named the conference's Coach of the Year for the third time in his 16-year tenure with the Catamounts. Sorrentine was named the recipient of the Kevin Roberson Award, given to the conference's Player of the Year. Coppenrath was named Rookie of the Year. All of the voting was conducted by the conference's nine head coaches. The trio joins Bill Herrion (Coach), Malik Rose (Player) and Mike DeRocckis (Rookie) who helped Drexel University sweep the awards in 1995-96 as the only schools to have all three winners in the same year.
Brennan has guided Vermont to a school-record 20 wins and the team's first No. 1 seed in the America East Championship. The Catamounts, charter members of America East in 1979-80, are 20-7 overall. Brennan, who also was Coach of the Year in 1991 and 1998, and Herrion are the only coaches to have won the honor more than twice.
Sorrentine is the third sophomore in the 23-year history of the conference to win the Roberson Award, named in honor of the former Vermont player who was the conference's Player of the Year in 1992 before being killed by a drunk driver in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y. in 1993. Sorrentine joins Speedy Claxton, now of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Reggie Lewis, the captain of the Boston Celtics at the time of his death in 1993, as the only second-year players to win the award. He is also the first Catamount to win the honor since it was renamed for Roberson.
Sorrentine leads America East in scoring with 19.4 ppg and has a conference-best 87 three-pointers. He is fourth in the conference in assists with 107. The 5-11 guard, who was the conference's Rookie of the Year last season, joins Lewis and former Boston University star Tunji Awojobi as the only players in America East history to win both the Rookie and Player of the Year awards.
Coppenrath is the second-straight Catamount and third in five years to be named Rookie of the Year. The 6-8 forward, who sat out last season as a redshirt, is fourth in America East in scoring (17 ppg), third in blocks (1.3 per game), fourth in field goal percentage (.513) and sixth in rebounding (6.9 rpg). He is the first frontcourt player to win the Rookie of the Year award since Joe Linderman of Drexel in 1997.
Sorrentine leads the first team all-conference choices, which are selected regardless of position. He is joined on the first team by senior forward Chris Brown of University of New Hampshire, junior forward Billy Collins of Boston University, senior center Trevor Gaines of Vermont and junior center Justin Rowe of University of Maine. Brown (13.7 ppg, 10.1 rpg), who is the first Wildcat to receive first-team honors since Scott Drapeau in 1995, leads America East with 16 double-doubles. Collins (11.9 ppg, 8 rpg) helped lead the Terriers to the America East regular-season co-championship (with Vermont). Gaines, who leads America East in rebounding with 11 per contest, adds 15.3 ppg for the Catamounts. Rowe averages 12.9 ppg and 8 rpg and has a school-record 111 blocks for the Black Bears.
Coppenrath and Boston University guard Chaz Carr (13.5 ppg) become the first rookies named to an all-conference team since Tony Orciari in 1998. They are joined on the second team by senior guard Austin Ganly (15.6 ppg) of New Hampshire, senior guard Errick Greene (17.3 ppg) of Maine and sophomore guard D.J. Munir (17.1 ppg, conference-best 115 assists) of Stony Brook University.
The third team includes senior guard Jean Bain (10.6 ppg, 76 assists) of Northeastern University, senior forward Will Brand (11 ppg, 5.4 rpg) of University at Albany, junior forward Pierre Johnson (11 ppg, 7.4 rpg) of University of Hartford, junior forward Jeffrey St. Fort (12.9 ppg) of Binghamton University and sophomore guard Ryan Stys (10.6 ppg, 72 assists) of Hartford.
Carr and Coppenrath are joined on the all-rookie team by forward Rashad Bell (6.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg) of Boston University, center Nick Billings (5.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 80 blocks) of Binghamton and guard Aaron Davis (10.7 ppg) of Northeastern.
For the first time since the first all-conference awards were presented in 1979-80, none of the honorees is a prior all-conference selection.
The America East Men's Basketball Championship begins with quarterfinal and semifinal games this weekend at Matthews Arena on the Northeastern campus. No. 2 Boston University meets No. 7 Northeastern at 12 noon on Saturday followed by No. 3 Hartford vs. No. 6 Albany. Top seed Vermont plays No. 8 Stony Brook at 6 p.m. followed by No. 4 New Hampshire vs. No. 5 Maine. The semifinals are scheduled for Sunday beginning at 12 noon.
The America East Championship game will be played Saturday, March 9 at 11:30 a.m. at the home court of the higher seed of the remaining teams.
2001-02 America East Conference All-Conference Teams
First Team
Chris Brown New Hampshire F Sr. 6-4 210 Dorchester, Mass./Scituate
Billy Collins Boston U. G/F Jr. 6-7 200 Concord, N.J./Bishop Brady/Rutgers University
Trevor Gaines Vermont C Sr. 6-7 220 Farmington Hills, Mich./Farmington
Justin Rowe Maine C Jr. 7-0 235 Springfield, Mass./Pioneer/Clearwater College
T.J. Sorrentine Vermont G So. 5-11 170 Pawtucket, R.I./St. Raphael’s Academy
Second Team
Chaz Carr Boston U. G Fr. 5-10 170 Manchester, Conn./Manchester
Taylor Coppenrath Vermont F Fr. 6-8 220 West Barnet, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy
Austin Ganly New Hampshire G Sr. 6-6 195 Cumberland, Maine/Greely
Errick Greene Maine G Sr. 6-3 210 Killeen, Texas/Belleville East/Kaskaskia Community College
D.J. Munir Stony Brook G So. 6-3 175 Providence, R.I./Bishop Hendrickson/Bridgton Academy
Third Team
Jean Bain Northeastern G Sr. 5-11 177 Medford, Mass./Bridgton Academy
Will Brand Albany F Sr. 6-5 215 Richmond Heights, Ohio/Charles F. Brush
Pierre Johnson Hartford F Jr. 6-6 185 Seabrook, Md./Duval
Jeffrey St. Fort Binghamton F Jr. 6-6 200 Miami, Fla./Monsignor Pace
Ryan Stys Hartford G So. 5-11 160 Hooksett, N.H./Manchester Central
All-Rookie
Chaz Carr Boston U. G Fr. 5-10 170 Manchester, Conn./Manchester
Rashad Bell Boston U. F Fr. 6-6 175 Queens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep
Nick Billings Binghamton C Fr. 7-0 220 Kodiak, Alaska/Kodiak
Taylor Coppenrath Vermont F Fr. 6-8 220 West Barnet, Vt./St. Johnsbury Academy
Aaron Davis Northeastern G Fr. 6-3 170 East Orange, N.J./Bishop Francis Essex Catholic
Kevin Roberson Player of the Year: T.J. Sorrentine, Vermont
Rookie of the Year: Taylor Coppenrath, Vermont
Coach of the Year: Tom Brennan, Vermont