Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

NEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Awarded for	the most outstanding basketball player in the Northeast Conference
Country	United States
First awarded	1983
Currently held by	Cane Broome, Sacred Heart

The Northeast Conference (NEC) Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual college basketball award given to the Northeast Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1982–83 season, when the league was known as the ECAC Metro Conference.^{[a 1]}

The most well-recognized NEC Player of the Year is Marist's Rik Smits, who won the award in 1987 and 1988. Smits went on to have a successful National Basketball Association (NBA) career for 12 seasons (1988–2000), all with the Indiana Pacers.^[1] In 1998, Smits was named an Eastern Conference All-Star.^[1]

LIU Brooklyn has the most all-time winners with seven while Robert Morris is in second with six. All charter members of the Northeast Conference that are still members have had at least one winner. Of current NEC members, only Bryant has never had a player of the year.

Key

†	Co-Players of the Year
*	Awarded a national Player of the Year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present)
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the NEC Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Rik Smits of Marist went on to have a successful NBA career with the Indiana Pacers.

Season	Player	School	Position	Class
1982–83	Smith, SteveSteve Smith	Marist	Shooting guard	Senior
1983–84^†	Harris, ChipperChipper Harris	Robert Morris	Shooting guard	Senior
1983–84^†	Jackson, RobertRobert Jackson	St. Francis (NY)		Senior
1983–84^†	Scurry, CareyCarey Scurry	Long Island	Power forward	Junior
1984–85	Scurry, CareyCarey Scurry (2)	Long Island	Power forward	Senior
1985–86	Bailey, TerranceTerrance Bailey	Wagner	Shooting guard	Junior
1986–87	Smits, RikRik Smits	Marist	Center	Junior
1987–88	Smits, RikRik Smits (2)	Marist	Center	Senior
1988–89	Luton, VaughnVaughn Luton	Robert Morris	Guard	Senior
1989–90	Wilson, DesiDesi Wilson	Fairleigh Dickinson	Forward	Junior
1990–91	Iuzzolino, MikeMike Iuzzolino	Saint Francis (PA)	Point guard	Senior
1991–92	Walker, MyronMyron Walker	Robert Morris	Shooting guard	Sophomore
1992–93	Suber, DarrickDarrick Suber	Rider	Point guard	Senior
1993–94	Buchanan, IzettIzett Buchanan	Marist	Small forward	Senior
1994–95	Griffin, JoeJoe Griffin	Long Island	Power forward	Senior
1995–96	McGuthrie, ChrisChris McGuthrie	Mount St. Mary's	Point guard	Senior
1996–97	Jones, CharlesCharles Jones	Long Island	Point guard / Shooting guard	Junior
1997–98	Jones, CharlesCharles Jones (2)	Long Island	Point guard / Shooting guard	Senior
1998–99	Minlend, RayRay Minlend	St. Francis (NY)	Point guard	Senior
1999–00	Mickens, RickRick Mickens	Central Connecticut	Shooting guard	Senior
2000–01	Johnson, RahsaanRahsaan Johnson	Monmouth	Point guard	Sophomore
2001–02	Edwards, CorsleyCorsley Edwards	Central Connecticut	Forward	Senior
2002–03	Hall, JermaineJermaine Hall	Wagner	Small forward	Senior
2003–04	Robinson, RonRon Robinson	Central Connecticut	Forward	Senior
2004–05	Hamilton, BlakeBlake Hamilton	Monmouth	Power forward	Senior
2005–06	Timberlake, ChadChad Timberlake	Fairleigh Dickinson	Shooting guard	Senior
2006–07	Mojica, JavierJavier Mojica	Central Connecticut	Shooting guard / Point guard	Senior
2007–08	Lee, TonyTony Lee	Robert Morris	Point guard	Senior
2008–09	Chappell, JeremyJeremy Chappell	Robert Morris	Shooting guard	Senior
2009–10	Rutty, JustinJustin Rutty	Quinnipiac	Power forward	Junior
2010–11	Horton, KenKen Horton[2]	Central Connecticut	Small forward	Junior
2011–12	Boyd, JulianJulian Boyd[3]	Long Island	Power forward	Junior
2012–13	Olasewere, JamalJamal Olasewere[4]	Long Island	Power forward	Senior
2013–14	Anderson, KarvelKarvel Anderson[5]	Robert Morris	Shooting guard	Senior
2014–15	Cannon, JalenJalen Cannon	St. Francis Brooklyn	Power forward	Senior
2015–16	Broome, CaneCane Broome[6]	Sacred Heart	Shooting guard	Sophomore

Winners by school

School (year joined)	Winners	Years
LIU Brooklyn (1981)	7	1984^†, 1985, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2012, 2013
Robert Morris (1981)	6	1984^†, 1989, 1992, 2008, 2009, 2014
Central Connecticut (1997)	5	2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2011
Marist (1981)[a 2]	4	1983, 1987, 1988, 1994
St. Francis Brooklyn (1981)	3	1984^†, 1999, 2015
Fairleigh Dickinson (1981)	2	1990, 2006
Monmouth (1985)[a 3]	2	2001, 2005
Wagner (1981)	2	1986, 2003
Mount St. Mary's (1989)	1	1996
Quinnipiac (1998)[a 3]	1	2010
Rider (1992)[a 4]	1	1993
Sacred Heart (1999)	1	2016
Saint Francis (PA) (1981)	1	1991
Bryant (2008)	0	—
Loyola (MD) (1981)[a 5]	0	—
Siena (1981)[a 6]	0	—
UMBC (1998)[a 7]	0	—

Footnotes

1. The Northeast Conference was founded in 1981 as the ECAC Metro Conference, but member schools changed the name beginning with the 1989–90 school year.
2. Marist College was a charter member in 1981, but left in 1997 to join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
3. Monmouth University and Quinnipiac University left in 2013 for the MAAC.
4. Rider University, which had spent five seasons in the NEC, left in 1997 to join the MAAC.
5. Loyola University Maryland (then Loyola College in Maryland), also a charter member, left in 1989 to join the MAAC, and is now in the Patriot League.
6. Siena College, also a charter member, left in 1984 to join the MAAC.
7. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) left in 2003 to join the America East Conference.

• In addition, one charter member, Towson University (then Towson State University), left after the conference's first season of 1981–82, before the Player of the Year Award was created. The Tigers left for the East Coast Conference, and are now in the Colonial Athletic Association.

References

General

• "Records & History" (PDF, pg. 20). 2009–10 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide. Northeast Conference. Retrieved 14 April 2010.

Specific

1. "Rik Smits Bio". National Basketball Association. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
2. CCSU's Ken Horton Named Northeast Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, accessed March 1, 2011
3. LIU Brooklyn's Julian Boyd Named 2011-12 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year. Retrieved on February 28, 2012.
4. LIU Brooklyn's Jamal Olasewere Selected Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year. Retrieved on March 5, 2013.
5. Robert Morris Senior Guard Karvel Anderson Selected NEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year. Retrieved on March 4, 2014.
6. "Sacred Heart's Cane Broome Named NEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year" (Press release). Northeast Conference. March 1, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2016.