2024 MBWA AWARDS
MEN'S DIVISION I
All-Met Men's Teams Revealed; Holloway (Seton Hall) to Hold Coach of the Year Again

Holloway Earns Top Coach for 2nd Time in 3 Seasons; St. John's, Princeton Net Two Each on All-Met First Team; Francis is NJIT's First-Ever Rookie Nod

4/17/2024 8:00:00 AM

By: Chuck Stogel, MBWA, 914-428-6111, chstogel@aol.com

NEW YORK (April 17, 2024) – Shaheen Holloway of Seton Hall University, who guided the Pirates to this season’s National Invitation Tournament title, was named the Peter A. Carlesimo collegiate Coach of the Year on Wednesday when the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association announced its 2023-24 All-Met Men’s Division I teams.

Tariq Francis of the New Jersey Institute of Technology was selected Rookie of the Year.

The All-Met First Team: Daniss Jenkins and Joel Soriano, St. John’s; Xaivian Lee and Caden Pierce, Princeton; Xander Rice, Monmouth; Kadary Richmond, Seton Hall; Tyler Thomas, Hofstra.

The All-Met Second Team: Al-Amir Dawes and Dre Davis, Seton Hall; Darlinstone Dubar, Hofstra; Mervin James, Rider; Jalen Leach, Fairfield; Corey Washington, Saint Peter’s.

The All-Met Third Team: Matt Allocco, Princeton; Ansley Almonor, Fairleigh Dickinson; Melvin Council Jr., Wagner; Caleb Fields, Fairfield; Cliff Omoruyi, Rutgers; Tyler Stephenson-Moore, Stony Brook.

Being named All-Met is unique in that there are 21 colleges and universities, and more than 300 men’s players, under the MBWA Division I umbrella.

The 2023-24 All-Met teams will be honored at the 91st MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner on Thursday, April 18, 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.
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In his second season as the head coach at Seton Hall, Holloway --- who also was named the All-Met Coach of the Year in 2022 after taking surprising Saint Peter’s to the Elite Eight stage of the NCAA Tournament --- guided the Pirates to a 25-12 overall record this past season, up from 17-16 in his first year at the helm. Selected to finish ninth in the Big East preseason poll, the Pirates posted a 13-7 conference record to earn the No. 4 seed in the BEC Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Following that event and not having received a hoped-for NCAA berth, Seton Hall accepted an invitation to the NIT, where the Pirates reeled off five straight victories to claim the title at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN. SHU defeated Saint Joseph’s, North Texas, UNLV, Georgia and, in the final, Indiana State, to claim its second NIT crown and the first since 1953.

Born in Queens, NY, Holloway was both a Parade and McDonald’s All-American at St. Patrick High School in Elizabeth, NJ. He was named All-Big East three times and All-Met in all his four years as a point guard at Seton Hall (1996-2000). Prior to joining Saint Peter’s, he was a college assistant coach at his alma mater and at Iona. His career record as a head coach over six seasons is 106-82 (.564 W-L pct).

Holloway’s selection as Met Coach of the Year is the seventh time since 1981 a Seton Hall coach has been so honored. The others: P.J. Carlesimo, 1988-89; Tommy Amaker, 2000 (when Holloway was a player); Kevin Willard, 2016-17, 2019. 1324

A 6-0 freshman guard from Pittsburgh, PA, Francis --- who also was named the America East conference rookie of the year --- played in 27 games, starting 11, for the Highlanders (7-21). He finished ninth overall in conference scoring (14.8 ppg) and fourth in 3-point goals per game (2.1).

The first player from NJIT to be named MBWA Rookie of the Year, Francis also contributed an average of 4.1 rebounds per game, 2.6 assists and 1.5 steals. He shot 38.9% from the floor, 35.2% from 3-point range and 78.8% at the free throw line.

Francis exceeded scoring 20 points in a game eight times, including in February when he erupted for 31 points in leading the Highlanders to an upset victory over Vermont, the Catamounts only America East loss of the season.

The Met Writers’ Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year award is named in memory of the longtime athletic director at Fordham University and former executive director of the National Invitation Tournament.

The Haggerty Awards dinner on Thursday is to be livestreamed via the MBWA website. Here is the link: https://metbasketballwriters.org/2024haggertylivestream.

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

SUMMARY
NEW YORK (April 17, 2024) – The 2023-24 All-Met Division I men’s college basketball team announced Wednesday by the Met Basketball Writers Association.

FIRST TEAM
Daniss Jenkins, St. John’s • 6-4, Gr., G, Dallas, TX
Xaivian Lee, Princeton • 6-3, So., G, Toronto, Canada
Caden Pierce. Princeton • 6-7, So., F, Glen Ellyn, IL
Xander Rice, Monmouth • 6-3, Gr., G, West Long Branch, NJ
Kadary Richmond, Seton Hall • 6-6, Sr., G, Brooklyn, NY
Joel Soriano, St. John’s • 6-11, Gr., C, Yonkers, NY
Tyler Thomas, Hofstra • 6-3, Gr., G, New Haven, CT 1326

SECOND TEAM
Al-Amir Dawes, Seton Hall • 6-2, Sr., G, Newark, NJ
Dre Davis, Seton Hall • 6-6, Sr., F, Indianapolis, IN
Darlinstone Dubar, Hofstra • 6-8, Jr., G, Charlotte, NC
Mervin James, Rider • 6-7, S., F, St, Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Jalen Leach, Fairfield • 6-4, Sr., G, Nyack, NY
Corey Washington, Saint Peter’s • 6-6, So., F, Sherwood, AR

THIRD TEAM
Matt Allocco, Princeton • 6-4, Sr., G, Hilliard, OH
Ansley Almonor, FDU • 6-7, Jr., F, Spring Valley, NY 1325

Melvin Council Jr., Wagner • 6-4, Jr., G, Rochesteer, NY
Caleb Fields, Fairfield • 6-2, Gr., G, Cape May, NJ
Cliff Omoruyi, Rutgers • 6-10, Sr., C, Benin City, Nigeria
Tyler Stephenson-Moore, Stony Brook • 6-3, Gr., G, Jamaica, NY

Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year: Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall University
Rookie of the Year: Tariq Francis, NJIT, 6-0, Fr., F, Pittsburgh PA

--- www.metbasketballwriters.org ---

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