HARTFORD, Conn. -- Four returning All-America East selections from last season and the league’s reigning Rookie of the Year highlight the 2011-12 America East Preseason All-Conference Team as determined in a vote by the league’s head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own players. The conference unveiled the five-man squad at the America East Basketball Tip-Off Luncheon held at the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford, host city for the 2012 America East Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship presented by Newman’s Own on March 1-4.
Boston University’s Darryl Partin (Seattle, Wash.), a first-team all-conference selection last year, headlines the group. He is joined by a trio of 2010-11 second-team all-league honorees in University of Maine’s Gerald McLemore (San Diego, Calif.), UMBC’s Chris De La Rosa (Washington Heights, N.Y.) and Stony Brook University’s Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.). University of Vermont’s Brian Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y.), last year’s America East Rookie of the Year, rounds out the five-man squad.
Partin, a 6-foot-6 senior guard, made quite an impression during his first season at Boston U. and helped the Terriers claim their first conference title since 2002. The league’s lone returning first-team all-conference selection, the La Salle transfer ranked seventh among league leaders averaging 14.6 points per game last season. Partin was even better in conference play, ranking third in scoring with 16.9 points per contest. An America East All-Championship choice last year, Partin scored 20 or more points nine times, including a career-best 32 in a win over Cornell on Nov. 27.
McLemore, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, earned second-team All-America East honors last year after ranking 10th in scoring (13.3 ppg). A first-team all-league performer in 2009-10, McLemore upped his scoring average to 16.8 against conference foes, which ranked fourth last season. One of the league’s top shooters, McLemore led the conference in free throw percentage (.872) and was fourth with 74 made three-pointers. The conference’s active leading scorer with 1,199 career points, McLemore is also the league’s active leader with 250 made three-pointers and is a 38 percent career shooter from long range.
De La Rosa, a 5-foot-10 senior point guard, elevated his game to another level in 2010-11. The league’s top returning scorer and assist man, De La Rosa factored in on 49.7 percent of UMBC’s scoring and ranked third among league leaders averaging 15.5 points per game. He also led the conference in assists for the second straight season, handing out 6.0 helpers per game and ranked second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.13) and minutes played (35.8 mpg). A transfer from Siena, he has racked up 815 points and 334 assists in just two seasons at UMBC.
Dougher, a 6-foot-1 senior guard, led Stony Brook to its first-ever America East championship game last season. A two-time second-team all-conference selection, Dougher led the Seawolves and ranked 12th among league leaders pouring in 12.8 points a game. A deadly shooting threat, Dougher ranked second in both three-pointers made (88) and free throw percentage (.870). He also contributed to Stony Brook’s suffocating defense, which ranked ninth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.390) and 15th in scoring defense (60.4 papg).
Voelkel, a 6-foot-6 sophomore forward, made an immediate impact upon his arrival at Vermont last year. The Rookie of the Year and all-rookie selection averaged only 7.0 points per game, but more than made up for it in other areas. He became the first rookie to ever lead the league in rebounding (9.6 rpg) and had a league-best 16 double-digit board games. Voelkel, a six-time America East Rookie of the Week selection, also ranked second among conference leaders in assists (4.5 apg) and steals (1.6 spg) and led the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.23).