New for the 2011-2012 seasons, the America East Daily Word, a collaboration between AmericaEast.com and AExtra, will recap the previous day's games and on goings on our nine campuses and provide links to previews, recaps, features and exclusive coverage.

If the 2011-2012 men’s basketball season taught us anything, it’s that the future is bright for America East hoops. Youth was served this year as young players carried heavy loads for their respective teams.

Eight of the league’s top 20 scorers were either freshmen or sophomores. Two of those underclassmen, Binghamton and Vermont rookies Ben Dickinson and Four McGlynn, saw their contributions recognized yesterday.

Dickinson and McGlynn were two of 25 freshmen named to the 2012 Mid-Major Freshmen All-America Team by CollegeInsider.com.

Dickinson had an immediate impact on his Bearcat squad averaging 13.5 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in his rookie season. Those numbers placed him ninth among conference leaders in scoring and eighth in rebounding. Two of Dickinson’s biggest games came on the biggest stage as he poured in 20 points in each of Binghamton’s two games in the America East tourney back in March.

McGlynn led the league-champion Catamounts in scoring this year with 12 points per game despite not starting a single contest. The rookie sharpshooter drained 68 three-pointers this season including four in the conference title game against Stony Brook. McGlynn also led Vermont with 18 points in its NCAA Tournament First Four victory over Lamar.

Check out the full team, here.

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