New York – Justin Reyes of St. Thomas Aquinas has been named the All-Met Division II men’s college basketball Player of the Year by the Met Basketball Writers Assn.
Tobin Anderson of STAC was selected Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.
The rest of the All Met First Team: Claude Blue, Bloomfield; Jared Hall, LIU Post; Anthony Libroia, Adelphi; Chris Millender, Dowling; Chaz Watler, St. Thomas Aquinas.
The Second Team: Peter Aguilar, Concordia; Greg Dotson, LIU Post; Dawan Lighty, Caldwell; Jaylen Morris, Molloy; Tyree White, Queens.
The All-Met players and coach will be honored Tuesday, April 12, at the 83rd NIT/MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner at the Westchester Marriott, Tarrytown, NY.
There was no sophomore slump for Justin Reyes, a 6-foot-4 sophomore guard/forward from Haverhill, MA, after being named the East Coast Conference’s rookie of the year in 2014-15. His 2015-16 season earned him the ECC player of the year honor along with being named to the Division II Conference Commissioners Assn (D2CCA) All-East Region First Team and the NABC All-East District Second Team.
Reyes was a double-double machine for St. Thomas Aquinas, scoring 17.4 ppg and pulling down 10.3 rpg. He also led the ECC with a 61.2% FG mark and ranked in the top five with 56 steals and 44 blocks. Reyes broke single season records for the Spartans in field goal percentage, total rebounds and rebound average. He tied for second in the nation with 19 double-doubles and was 13th in shooting in the NCAA with his 61.2% FG accuracy.
In his third season at STAC, Anderson repeated as both the MBWA and ECC coach of the year, along with being named the NABC All-East District coach of the year. He guided the Spartans to a 27-5 record in 2015-16, the ECC regular season title and their first ECC Tournament Championship. For all that, STAC earned its first trip to the NCAA tournament in school history and its first NCAA tournament win, advancing to the second round.
At one point, Anderson had the Spartans on the longest win streak in Division II at 19, leading into the NCAA tournament’s opening round. Anderson has brought the Spartans to the ECC Tournament Championship game in all three of his years at STAC (2014-2016), including two 20-plus win seasons. His overall record with the Spartans is 62-29.
| First Team | ||
| Justin Reyes, St. Thomas Aquinas | 6-4, so, G/F | Haverhill, Mass. |
| Claude Blue, Bloomfield | 6-4, sr, F | Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| Jared Hall, LIU Post | 6-1, jr, G | South Orange, N.J. |
| Anthony Libroia, Adelphi | 5-11, sr, G | Bayside, N.Y. |
| Chris Millender, Dowling | 6-6, jr, F | Coram, N.Y. |
| Chaz Watler, St. Thomas Aquinas | 6-2, jr, G | Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| Second Team | ||
| Peter Aguilar, Concordia | 6-3, sr, G | Bronx, N.Y. |
| Greg Dotson, LIU Post | 6-5, jr, F | Abington, Pa. |
| Dawan Lighty, Caldwell | 6-2, sr, G | Paterson, N.J. |
| Jaylen Morris, Molloy | 6-5, jr, G | Amherst, N.Y. |
| Tyree White, Queens | 6-4, jr, G/F | Brooklyn, N.Y. |
Player of the Year: Justin Reyes, St. Thomas Aquinas
Coach of the Year: Tobin Anderson, St. Thomas Aquinas
Release provided by Chuck Stogel, MBWA.
