FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GNAC champion USJ
garners two major awards
WINTHROP, Mass. – As voted upon by the league's head coaches, Saint Joseph's College of Maine junior guard Jack Casale has been selected as the 2020 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Basketball Player of the Year.
For the complete all-conference results, including the all-sportsmanship selections from each GNAC program, please see below.
The Portland, Maine product was the runaway scoring champion in the GNAC, averaging 26.0 points per game while shooting 49.9% from the field and 36.8% from three-point range. Casale was also fifth in the GNAC rebounding (9.2) and sixth among league leaders in assists (3.5).
An All-GNAC First Team selection for the second straight season, the junior topped the 30-point mark on 10 different occasions and topped 40 points three times. He averaged 34.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists during the Monks' final four regular-season contests, as SJC went 4-0 down the stretch to lock down the No. 5 seed in the GNAC Tournament.
Joining Casale on the First Team included Albertus Magnus College senior Jahmerikah Green-Younger, Anna Maria College senior Mike Rapoza, and the University of Saint Joseph (CT) Hartford sophomore backcourt duo of Delshawn Jackson Jr. and Jaecee Martin.
Jackson, the reigning GNAC Rookie of the Year, was crowned GNAC Tournament MVP on Sunday afternoon after dropping a career-high 46 points in the conference title game against Albertus Magnus in what was a Connecticut clash of competitors. He is second in the GNAC in scoring, averaging 22.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists while shooting an impressive 41.5% from three.
As for Martin, the Sacred Heart transfer has been selected as the 2020 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, as voted upon by the head coaches, in addition to the First Team nod. The nation's leader in assists (once he qualifies) at 7.7 per game, Martin is also averaging 14.6 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.8 steals entering the NCAA Tournament.
Green-Younger earns his first All-GNAC First Team recognition after averaging 15.4 points in just 22.2 minutes per game to lead the Falcons. He previously was a Third Team choice back in 2018.
As for Rapoza, the senior big-man capped his illustrious AMCATS career by leading Anna Maria to the GNAC Semifinals, where they fell to USJ on Friday evening. Rapoza leads the country at 15.5 rebounds per game to along with 19.6 points on 61.6% shooting, good for second in the GNAC, and 1.9 blocks, which is tops in the GNAC. The Charlton, Mass. native goes down as a two-time GNAC First Team selection, two-time GNAC Second Team choice, the 2018 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, and the 2017 GNAC Rookie of the Year.
For the second straight year, USJ has laid claim to the conference's top first-year honors, as freshman Taelon Martin follows Jackson as the 2020 GNAC Rookie of the Year. The 6-5 Springfield, Mass. product averaged 11.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in under 24 minutes per game for the Blue Jays.
Taking home GNAC Coach of the Year honors was Anna Maria's Shawn Conrad, winning the award for the third time (2013, 2015). Conrad's AMCATS were the No. 4 seed in the GNAC Tournament, earning the right to host in the conference quarterfinals.
On the Second Team, Colby-Sawyer College senior Dana Bean, Emmanuel College junior Marcus Fox and senior Emmett Riddick, Johnson & Wales University (RI) senior Brian Hogan-Gary, and USJ junior Jordan Powell were all lauded.
Fox and Riddick led the Saints to the No. 3 seed in the GNAC Tournament, while Hogan-Gary last year was voted the GNAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year as a junior. Bean averaged 18.3 points and 8.0 rebounds, and Powell led the GNAC in field-goal percentage (.703) to go with averages of 15.2 points and 7.6 boards.
FIRST TEAM
Jahmerikah Green-Younger, Albertus Magnus
Mike Rapoza, Anna Maria
Delshawn Jackson Jr., St. Joseph (Conn.)
Jaecee Martin, St. Joseph (Conn.)
Jack Casale, Saint Joseph's (Me.)
SECOND TEAM
Dana Bean, Colby-Sawyer
Marcus Fox, Emmanuel (Mass.)
Emmett Riddick, Emmanuel (Mass.)
Brian Hogan-Gary, Johnson & Wales (RI)
Jordan Powell, St. Joseph (Conn.)
THIRD TEAM
Bobby Perette, Anna Maria
Tyreek Perkins, Albertus Magnus
EJ Day, Lasell
Kevin Vanderhorst, Lasell
Thomas Duffy, Suffolk
PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Jack Casale, Saint Joseph's College of Maine
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Jaecee Martin, St. Joseph (Conn.)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR – Taelon Martin, St. Joseph (Conn.)
COACH OF THE YEAR – Shawn Conrad, Anna Maria
INSTITUTIONAL SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD – Anna Maria College
ALL-SPORTSMANSHIP TEAM
Jack Ryan, Albertus Magnus
Javon Smith, Anna Maria
Pat Coffey, Colby-Sawyer
Zachary Crisafulli, Emmanuel
Bryan Davis, Johnson & Wales
Keith Poitier, Lasell
Josh Dumay, Norwich
Gibou Njie, Regis
Joshua L'Heureux, Rivier
Ryan O'Neill, Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Zac Manoogian , Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Cameron Powers, Suffolk
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 13 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
– #TheGNAC –