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Coppenrath joins former Hofstra star Speedy Claxton, now of the San Antonio Spurs, former Northeastern University great Reggie Lewis, the captain of the Boston Celtics at the time of his death in 1993, and teammate T.J. Sorrentine, as the only second-year players to win the award. Lewis won the first of his three awards in 1984-85. Claxton, a two-time winner, first won the award in 1997-98. Sorrentine, who sat out this season after suffering broken bones in both wrists in October, was the first Catamount to win the award since 1993 when it was named in Roberson's honor, when he was chosen last year. Roberson was the conference's Player of the Year at Vermont in 1992 and was killed by a drunk driver in his hometown of Buffalo, N.Y. in 1993.
Coppenrath, who leads America East in scoring with 20.5 ppg and is eighth in rebounding with 6.5 rpg, was a unanimous choice in voting by the conference's head coaches. The 2002 America East Rookie of the Year, he becomes the fourth player to win both the Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, joining Lewis, Sorrentine and Tunji Awojobi of Boston University.
The 7-0 Billings has already established the Binghamton school record for blocks in a career in just his second season. Billings has 197 blocks in 48 games. He presently ranks second in the nation with 4.33 blocks per game (117 in 27 games) this season.
Wilson ranks second in the conference in scoring with 19.2 ppg and led all scorers in conference games with 21.2 ppg in 15 contests. His 19.2 ppg overall average ranks second in America East history for rookie scorers behind Eddie Benton of Vermont, who averaged 23.8 ppg in 1992-93.
Wolff, who is in his ninth year with the Terriers and was also America East Coach of the Year in 1996-97, joins current East Carolina coach Bill Herrion (four-time winner at Drexel), Vermont's Tom Brennan (three times), and present Villanova coach Jay Wright (twice at Hofstra) as the only multiple-time winners. Wolff has guided the Terriers to an 18-9 mark and a 13-3 record in the conference as the No. 1 seed in the Choice Hotels America East Men's Basketball Championship.
Coppenrath is joined on the all-conference first team by senior guard Anthony Green of Binghamton, sophomore forward Rashad Bell of Boston University, junior guard Jerell Parker of University of Hartford, and senior forward Rickey White of University of Maine. Green ranks among the conference leaders in seven categories, including scoring, where he is third with 16.7 ppg. Bell leads the Terriers in scoring (11.8 ppg) and is second in rebounding (5.3 rpg). Parker ranks No. 7 in the conference in scoring (13.9 ppg) and No. 4 in rebounding (7.1 rpg). White, who leads the Black Bears with 13.2 ppg, ranks third in the nation in field goal percentage, at .665 (125-of-188). That percentage would shatter the America East single-season record established by Peter Cole of Vermont (.636) in 1981-82.
Billings (9 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Wilson are joined on the second team by senior forward Billy Collins of Boston University, senior center Justin Rowe of Maine, and junior guard D.J. Munir of Stony Brook University. Collins ranks among the conference leaders in scoring (10.2 ppg) and rebounding (6.7 rpg). Rowe (10.3 ppg) leads America East in rebounding (9.3 rpg) and ranks second to Billings in the conference and third nationally with 4.12 blocks per game (99 in 24 games). Munir leads the Seawolves in scoring with 17.4 ppg and enters the Choice Hotels America East Men's Basketball Championship averaging 26.2 ppg in his last five contests.
The third team consists of Boston University forward Ryan Butt (8.1 ppg, 5 rpg), Northeastern teammates Jose Juan Barea (16.5 ppg, 3.9 apg), Sylbrin Robinson (11.7 ppg, 9.3 rpg), and Javorie Wilson (14.9 ppg), and Vermont forward Grant Anderson (8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 3.4 apg).
Wilson and Barea are joined on the all-rookie team by forward Levi Levine (13 ppg, 6.1 rpg) of Albany, guard Aaron Cook (9.8 ppg, 47 three-pointers) of Hartford, and guard Kevin Reed (12.7 ppg, conference best 80 three-pointers) of Maine.
Thirteen of the all-conference choices and each of the five all-rookie choices will be in action this weekend at the Choice Hotels America East Men's Basketball Championship. The championship begins with quarterfinal games Sunday, March 9 at Walter Brown Arena on the Boston University campus. No. 1 Boston University (18-9 overall, 13-3 America East) meets No. 8 University of New Hampshire (5-22, 3-13) in the first game at 12:05 p.m. No. 4 Maine (14-15, 8-8) and No. 5 Northeastern (15-14, 8-8) follow. No. 2 Vermont (18-11, 11-5) plays No. 7 Albany (7-20, 3-13) at 6:05 p.m with No. 3 Hartford (15-12, 10-6) and No. 6 Stony Brook (13-14, 7-9) to follow. Semifinal games will be played Monday, March 10, at Walter Brown Arena. The first semifinal is at 7:05 p.m., with the second game slated for 9:35. The championship game returns to the home court of the higher remaining seed on Saturday, March 15. The game, which will air live on ESPN, begins at 11:35 a.m.