2022 MBWA AWARDS
Rutgers' Harper to Hold Haggerty Award; Holloway Named Div. I Coach of the Year; 2021-22 All-Met Teams Revealed
Chuck Stogel, MBWA, 914-428-6111, chstogel@aol.com
NEW YORK (April 25, 2022) – Ron Harper Jr. of Rutgers University was named the 2022 winner of the Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award on Monday, presented annually since 1936 to the area’s Division I men’s college Player of the Year by the Met Basketball Writers Association.
Shaheen Holloway of Saint Peter's University was selected as the MBWA Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year. Holloway has since left SPU to become the head coach at Seton Hall.
Jao Ituka of Marist College was acclaimed Rookie of the Year for 2021-22.
The rest of the All-Met First Team: Julian Champagnie, St. John’s; Aaron Estrada, Hofstra; Tyson Jolly, Iona; Alex Morales, Wagner; Jared Rhoden, Seton Hall.;
The All-Met Second Team: Posh Alexander, St. John's; Geo Baker, Rutgers; Ty Flowers, LIU; K.C. Ndefo, Saint Peter's; Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona; Jose Perez, Manhattan.
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The All-Met Third Team: Daryl Banks III, Saint Peter’s; Caleb McConnell, Rutgers; Chuba Ohams, Fordham; George Papas, Monmouth; Eral Penn, LIU.
The MBWA encompasses 69 Met area college men’s and women’s teams across Divisions I, II and III, including 21 schools in Division I.
The All-Met teams are scheduled to be honored at the 89th MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner on Monday evening, April 25, at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, NY. The event is to be livestreamed via the MBWA website. Here is the link: https://metbasketballwriters.org/sports/2022/4/23/haggerty-dinner-live-stream.aspx.
A 6-6 senior guard/forward from Franklin Lakes, NJ, Harper represents the third player and fourth time a Scarlet Knight has been named recipient of the Haggerty Award. The last time a Rutgers player was so honored was Quincy Douby in 2006. Previously, Phil Sellers won back-to-back in 1975-76.
Harper --- who also was named to the All-Met and All-ECAC First Teams, to the All-Big Ten Conference and NABC All-District Second Team, and an Associated Press All-America Honorable Mention ---. started all 32 games this past season for Rutgers (18-14, 12-8), scoring in double digits in 27 of those contests.
He averaged a team-leading 15.8 points per game, along with 5.9 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.0 steals, and shot 44.4% (171-of-387) from the field, 39.8% (68-of-171) from 3-point range and 79.5% (97-of-122) at the free throw line.
A product of Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey, his 22 points scored in a season-ending NCAA First Four 89-87 double overtime loss to Notre Dame netted Harper a career total of 1,525 points at Rutgers, tying him for 12th on the all-time school scoring list with Roy Hinson. Having played in 121 games with 109 starts, Harper also finished with 622 career rebounds.
Other highlights from the past season: career-highs of 31 points and six 3 pointers made against Maryland; 29 points in the victory over Nebraska with a perfect 10-of-10 at the free-throw line; led the way with 30 points and made a memorable buzzer-beating 3-pointer to defeat No. 1-ranked Purdue; hit the game-winning shot at Indiana with 2.1 seconds remaining.
Harper is the first Scarlet Knight to be named an AP All-American since Douby and the highest All-Conference selection for an RU player since 2006. 
In just his fourth year at SPU, Holloway guided the Peacocks (22-12, 14-6) all the way to the Sweet Sixteen and then Elite Eight stage of the NCAA Tournament, the first time the Peacocks program has reached either realm and the furthest in the NCAAs for any Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference team.
Saint Peter’s, which finished second during the MAAC regular season, gained entry to the NCAAs by winning the conference tournament championship. It was the first NCAA appearance for the Peacocks since 2010-11, and the team had an 11-game winning streak snapped by eventual national runnerup North Carolina in their Elite Eight matchup. To reach the NCAA quarterfinals, SPU defeated Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue.
Under Holloway’s tutelage, senior KC Ndefo was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Year and MAAC Tournament MVP. The coach kept himself and his team on an even keel while making tournament runs. A Seton Hall graduate and former assistant at both SHU and Iona, Holloway was hired as the head men’s coach by Seton Hall after the NCAA Tournament. His four-year record in Jersey City, NJ: 64-57, including the last three years with winning seasons. 
A 6-1 freshman guard from Gaithersburg, MD, Ituka --- who also was named the MAAC and ECAC Division I rookie of the year --- started 16 games for the Red Foxes (14-16, 9-11) and ranked in the top 10 in the conference in both scoring and shooting.
His 15.3 ppg were tops on his team and third in the MAAC; his 52.6% (151-287) accuracy from the field was eighth. He also shot 41.0% (16-of-39) from 3-point range and 76.8% (109-142) at the free throw line.
Ituka’s 34 points in a victory at Boston Univ. were the most by a Red Fox in a game in five seasons. Overall, he had eight games where he scored 20-or-more points.
The Haggerty dinner is the longest running, media-managed college basketball awards program in the United States. First presented in 1936, the Haggerty Award arguably is the oldest and most prestigious honor given to a Met area college basketball player. The award is named in memory of Lt. Frank J. Haggerty, a shortstop in baseball and co-captain/forward on the basketball team who was the first student from St. John’s killed in World War II.
The Met Writers’ Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year award is named in memory of the late, longtime athletic director at Fordham University and former executive director of the National Invitation Tournament. 
SUMMARY
NEW YORK (April 25, 2022) – The 2021-22 All-Met Division I men’s college basketball team announced Monday by the Met Basketball Writers Association.
First Team
Julian Champagnie, St. John’s • 6-8, Jr., G/F, Brooklyn, NY
Aaron Estrada, Hofstra • 6-3, Jr., G, Woodbury, NJ
Ron Harper Jr., Rutgers • 6-6, Sr., G/F Franklin Lakes, NJ
Tyson Jolly, Iona • 6-4, Gr., G, Muskogee, OK
Alex Morales, Wagner • 6-6, Gr., G, Paterson, NJ
Jared Rhoden, Seton Hall • 6-6, Sr., G, Baldwin, NY
Second Team
Posh Alexander, St. John’s • 6-0, So., G, Brooklyn, NY
Geo Baker, Rutgers • 6-4, Sr., G, Derry, NH
Ty Flowers, LIU • 6-9, Gr., F, Waterbury, CT
K.C. Ndefo, Saint Peter’s • 6-7, Sr., F, Elmont, NY
Nelly Junior Joseph, Iona • 6-9, So., F, Benin City, Nigeria
Jose Perez, Manhattan • 6-5, Sr., F, Bronx, NY
Third Team
Daryl Banks III, Saint Peter’s • 6-3, Jr., G, Los Angeles, CA
Caleb McConnell, Rutgers • 6-7, Sr., G, Jacksonville, FL
Chuba Ohams, Fordham • 6-9, Gr., F, Bronx, NY
George Papas, Monmouth • 6-5, Gr., G, Jersey City, NJ
Eral Penn, LIU • 6-7, Sr., F, Brooklyn, NY 
Haggerty Award / Player of the Year: Ron Harper Jr., Rutgers
Harper's Highlight Video
Rookie of the Year: Jao Ituka, Marist • 6-1, Fr., G, Gaithersburg, MD
Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year: Shaheen Holloway, Saint Peter's
For a list of previous Men's Division I Awards:
Year-by-Year Haggerty Award Winners Bios • Coaches of the Year • Rookies of the Year • List of Haggerty Award Winners