2023 MBWA AWARDS MEN'S DIVISION III Lehman's Geathers Gets Player of the Year; Montclair's Potts Pick Up Coaching Honors

NEW YORK (April 18, 2023) –  Isaiah Geathers of Lehman College was selected the All-Met Division III men’s college basketball Player of the Year for 2022-23 as announced Tuesday by the Met Basketball Writers Association.

Justin Potts of Montclair State was named Coach of the Year.

The rest of the All-Met First Team: Griffin Barker, Kean; Steven Breeman, Montclair State; Spencer Freedman, NYU; Tommy Lotito, Manhattanville; Howard McBurnie Jr., Drew; Kendall Robinson, Western Connecticut.

The All-Met Second Team: Terrell Fullerton, York; Nick Hurowitz, Farmingdale; Yassine Sakhi, CCNY; Zevi Samet, Yeshiva; Jack Spellman, Stevens; Letrell West, Kean.

The All-Met Third Team: Xavier Allen, St. Joseph’s-LI; Ryan Donovan, Maritime; Luka Jakic, Hunter; Devin Nicholson, Baruch; Corey Powell, Farmingdale; Billy Veras, Centenary.

Being named All-Met is unique in that there are 35 colleges and universities and more than 500 players under the MBWA Division III men’s umbrella.

The 2022-23 All-Met teams will be honored at the 90th MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner on Thursday, April 27, at the Sleepy Hollow Hotel & Conference Center in Tarrytown, NY. The Haggerty dinner is the longest running, media-managed college basketball awards program in the United States.
A 6-3 senior forward from Brooklyn, NY, Geathers --- who also was named the CUNY Athletic Conference player of the year and an NABC Division III All-America Third Team selection --- led the Lightning (18-9, 11-3) and his conference in scoring both total points (459) and points per game (20.9). As a team, Lehman finished second in the CUNYAC standings and was runner-up in the conference’s tournament championship game.

Geathers, who was fourth in the CUNYAC with 9.5 rebounds per game, also averaged 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals. He had eight double-doubles during the season, and shot 43.2% from the floor, 37.4% from beyond the arc and led the conference by nailing 81.9% at the free throw line.

Geathers concluded his college career as the all-time Lehman scorer with 1,906 points, which ranks fourth-highest in CUNYAC annals.

An All-ECAC First Team pick, Geathers competed in the NABC Reese’s Division III All-Star game in Fort Wayne, IN, posting a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Previous to this season, he was named to the All-Met Second Team in 2022 and to the All-Met Third Team as a freshman in 2020.  

In his fourth season at the helm, Potts --- who also was named both the New Jersey Athletic Conference and NABC Region 4 coach of the year --- guided the Red Hawks (22-6, 15-3 NJAC) to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2003 as the team impressively improved upon its records (14-10, 10-8) from 2021-22.

A 2000 graduate from Moravian with a Masters degree from East Stroudsburg, where he was on the coaching staff, this is the second top coaching honor for Potts. He previously was accorded Landmark Conference coach of the year accolades during his four-year tenure as head coach at Moravian.

Potts’ overall record at Montclair State is 53-33 (.616 W-L pct), which includes a 39-23 mark in the NJAC. His eight-season career head coaching record now is 123-73.

Potts and his wife, Caroline, reside in Bethlehem, PA, with their two daughters, Quinn, 11, and Kennedy, 8.

For a list of previous Men's Division III Awards:
Players of the Year - Coaches of the Year