2025 MBWA AWARDS<br>MEN'S DIV. II<br>Alexander (Pace) Picks Up Player of the Year; Duke (Adelphi) Takes Top Coach - Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Skip To Main Content

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2025 MBWA AWARDS
MEN'S DIV. II
Alexander (Pace) Picks Up Player of the Year; Duke (Adelphi) Takes Top Coach

4/17/2025 8:00:00 AM

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

NEW YORK (April 17, 2025) – Tray Alexander of Pace University has been named the All-Met Division II men’s college basketball Player of the Year for 2024-25, it was announced Thursday by the Met Basketball Writers Association.
 


Dave Duke of Adelphi University was named the MBWA Coach of the Year.

The All-Met First Team:   Tray Alexander, Pace; Aliou Cisse, Bridgeport; Cam Edmonds, Georgian Court; Andres Fulgencio and Dayshaun Walton, Adelphi; Jaden Honis, Dominican; Rob Matos, Molloy.

The All-Met Second Team: Shaun Arnold and Hartnel Haye, St. Thomas Aquinas; Trey Boyd III, Pace; Starrell Hearns and Edward Ngene, Bloomfield; Messiah Mallory, Staten Island.

All-Met Honorable Mention: DeAngelo Horn, Caldwell; Derrick James and Luis Risquez, St. Thomas Aquinas; Jaden Kealey, Pace; Marcus Pierce, Felician.
 
The 2024-25 All-Met teams will be honored at the 92nd MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner on Thursday, April 24, 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 5-10 graduate guard from Freeport, NY, Alexander --- who also became the first Setter to be named a Northeast-10 Conference player of the year --- led Pace (24-8, 14-6 NE10) in scoring, assists, steals and shooting percentage, along with placing high statistically in both his conference and in NCAA Division II.

Among his many accolades for this past season, Alexander was named a Third Team All-American by both the NABC and D2CCA; D2CCA East Region player of the year; NE10 First Team and All-Defensive Team member; and, in the classroom, All-Academic by both the CSC and NE10.

Alexander played just two seasons for the Setters. He spent his freshman and sophomore years at Saint Rose, which no longer is in operation, and his junior year at Florida Southern. He was selected by the MBWA to its Division II men’s First Team last year.

This past season, he led Pace to an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament with 517 points (16.2 ppg), a single-season school record 277 assists (8.7 apg), 92 steals (2.9 per game) while shooting 45.1% from the floor and 85.4% at the free throw line. Alexander placed eighth in the conference in scoring, and first in both assists and steals. On a national level, he was second in Division II in assists, second in steals per game (2.88) and third in total thefts (92).

Among his superlatives, Alexander tallied a season-high of 35 points in a win over Saint Anselm, had 17 assists in a game against Saint Michael’s, registered 13 double-doubles in points and assists, and was one rebound shy of a triple-double at New Haven.

Alexander is the fourth Pace player to be named an MBWA Player of the Year, preceded by Bert Brisbane, 1992; Todd Ziogas, 1999; and Peyton Wejnert, 2020. Despite only two seasons as a Setter, he finished No. 2 on the school’s all-time career assists list with 479.    1480

Duke, the first to earn Northeast-10 Conference coach of the year honors in Adelphi men’s basketball history, guided the Panthers to one of the best seasons in his 11 years at the helm.

Adelphi (26-8, 17-3 NE10) posted its highest victory total under his watch and the most for the program since 27 wins in 2005-06. The team produced a 12-game winning streak, fourth longest in program history, and was ranked as high as No. 15 nationally by the NABC, Adelphi’s highest ranking since holding the No. 1 position in 2000-01. The Panthers closed 2024-25 by capturing their first regular season conference title since 2010-11 and, as an at-large invitee, made their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012.

Prior to joining Adelphi, Duke --- a 1997 SUNY Albany graduate --- was an associate head coach at Fordham for four seasons and earlier was an assistant coach at Hofstra. His head coaching record with the Panthers in 10 competitive seasons (the school sat out 2020-21 due to the coronavirus situation) is 165-126 (.587 W-L pct).

Duke is the fifth coach and represents the ninth time Adelphi has produced an MBWA Coach of the Year, preceded by Jim O’Connor, 1993 and 1995; Steve Clifford, 1997; Jim Ferry, 2000-01-02; and James Cosgrove, 2005-06.

For a list of previous Men's Division II Awards:  
SUMMARY       
NEW YORK (April 17, 2025) – The 2024-25 All-Met Division II men’s college basketball team announced Thursday by the Met Basketball Writers Association.      1459
     
FIRST TEAM
Tray Alexander, Pace • 5-10, Gr., G, Freeport, NY
Aliou Cisse, Bridgeport • 6-7, Jr., G/F, Yonkers, NY
Cam Edmonds, Georgian Court • 6-2, Jr., G, Chesapeake, VA
Andres Fulgencio, Adelphi • 6-4, Sr., G, Teaneck, NJ
Jaden Honis, Dominican • 6-3, Gr., G, Bridgewater, NJ
Rob Matos, Molloy • 5-10, Jr., G, Columbus, OH
Dayshaun Walton, Adelphi • 6-4, Jr., G, Albany, NY               

SECOND TEAM                    
Shaun Arnold, St. Thomas Aquinas • 6-5, So., G/F, Indianapolis, IN  1460
Trey Boyd III, Pace • 6-4, So., G, Durham, NC
Hartnel Haye, St. Thomas Aquinas • 6-7, Gr., G/F, Camden, NJ
Starrell Hearns, Bloomfield • 6-2, So., G, Carteret, NJ
Messiah Mallory, Staten Island • 6-7, Sr., F, Westervliet, NY
Edward Ngene, Bloomfield • 6-8, Sr., F, Lindenwold, NJ

HONORABLE MENTION
DeAngelo Horn, Caldwell; Derrick James, St. Thomas Aquinas, Jaden Kealey, Pace; Marcus Pierce, Felician; Luis Risquez, St. Thomas Aquinas

Player of the Year: Tray Alexander, Pace • Alexander Highlight Video
Coach of the Year: Dave Duke, Adelphi

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