Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

NEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year
Awarded for	the most outstanding basketball player in the Northeast Conference
Country	United States
First awarded	1983
Currently held by	Ken Horton, Central Connecticut State

The Northeast Conference (NEC) Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual college basketball award given to the Northeast Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1982–83 season, when the league was known as the ECAC Metro Conference.^[a]

The most well-recognized NEC Player of the Year is Marist's Rik Smits, who won the award in 1987 and 1988. Smits went on to have a successful National Basketball Association (NBA) career for 12 seasons (1988–2000), all with the Indiana Pacers.^[1] In 1998, Smits was named an Eastern Conference All-Star.^[1]

Central Connecticut State, Long Island and Robert Morris have the most all-time winners with five each. All charter members of the Northeast Conference that are still members have had at least one winner. Of current NEC members, only Bryant and Sacred Heart have had zero players of the year.

Key

†	Co-Players of the Year
*	Awarded a national Player of the Year award: the Naismith College Player of the Year or the John R. Wooden Award
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Rik Smits of Marist went on to have a successful NBA career with the Indiana Pacers.

Season	Player	School	Position	Class
1982–83	Smith, SteveSteve Smith	Marist	Shooting guard	4 !Senior
1983–84†	Harris, ChipperChipper Harris	Robert Morris	Shooting guard	4 !Senior
1983–84†	Jackson, RobertRobert Jackson	St. Francis (NY)		4 !Senior
1983–84†	Scurry, CareyCarey Scurry	Long Island	Power forward	3 !Junior
1984–85	Scurry, CareyCarey Scurry (2)	Long Island	Power forward	4 !Senior
1985–86	Bailey, TerranceTerrance Bailey	Wagner	Shooting guard	3 !Junior
1986–87	Smits, RikRik Smits	Marist	Center	3 !Junior
1987–88	Smits, RikRik Smits (2)	Marist	Center	4 !Senior
1988–89	Luton, VaughnVaughn Luton	Robert Morris	Guard	4 !Senior
1989–90	Wilson, DesiDesi Wilson	Fairleigh Dickinson	Forward	3 !Junior
1990–91	Iuzzolino, MikeMike Iuzzolino	Saint Francis (PA)	Point guard	4 !Senior
1991–92	Walker, MyronMyron Walker	Robert Morris	Shooting guard	2 !Sophomore
1992–93	Suber, DarrickDarrick Suber	Rider	Point guard	4 !Senior
1993–94	Buchanan, IzettIzett Buchanan	Marist	Small forward	4 !Senior
1994–95	Griffin, JoeJoe Griffin	Long Island	Power forward	4 !Senior
1995–96	McGuthrie, ChrisChris McGuthrie	Mount St. Mary's	Point guard	4 !Senior
1996–97	Jones, CharlesCharles Jones	Long Island	Point guard / Shooting guard	3 !Junior
1997–98	Jones, CharlesCharles Jones (2)	Long Island	Point guard / Shooting guard	4 !Senior
1998–99	Minlend, RayRay Minlend	St. Francis (NY)	Point guard	4 !Senior
1999–00	Mickens, RickRick Mickens	Central Connecticut State	Shooting guard	4 !Senior
2000–01	Johnson, RahsaanRahsaan Johnson	Monmouth	Point guard	2 !Sophomore
2001–02	Edwards, CorsleyCorsley Edwards	Central Connecticut State	Forward	4 !Senior
2002–03	Hall, JermaineJermaine Hall	Wagner	Small forward	4 !Senior
2003–04	Robinson, RonRon Robinson	Central Connecticut State	Forward	4 !Senior
2004–05	Hamilton, BlakeBlake Hamilton	Monmouth	Power forward	4 !Senior
2005–06	Timberlake, ChadChad Timberlake	Fairleigh Dickinson	Shooting guard	4 !Senior
2006–07	Mojica, JavierJavier Mojica	Central Connecticut State	Shooting guard / Point guard	4 !Senior
2007–08	Lee, TonyTony Lee	Robert Morris	Point guard	4 !Senior
2008–09	Chappell, JeremyJeremy Chappell	Robert Morris	Shooting guard	4 !Senior
2009–10	Rutty, JustinJustin Rutty	Quinnipiac	Power forward	3 !Junior
2010–11	Horton, KenKen Horton[2]	Central Connecticut State	Small forward	3 !Junior

Winners by school

School (year joined)	Winners	Years
Central Connecticut State (1997)	5	2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2011
Long Island (1981)	5	1984†, 1985, 1995, 1997, 1998
Robert Morris (1981)	5	1984†, 1989, 1992, 2008, 2009
Marist (1981)[b]	4	1983, 1987, 1988, 1994
Fairleigh Dickinson (1981)	2	1990, 2006
Monmouth (1985)	2	2001, 2005
St. Francis (NY) (1981)	2	1984†, 1999
Wagner (1981)	2	1986, 2003
Mount St. Mary's (1989)	1	1996
Quinnipiac (1998)	1	2010
Rider (1992)[c]	1	1993
Saint Francis (PA) (1981)	1	1991
Bryant (2008)	0	—
Sacred Heart (1999)	0	—

Footnotes

• ^a The Northeast Conference was founded in 1981 as the ECAC Metro Conference, but member schools changed the name beginning with the 1989–90 school year.
• ^b Marist College was a charter member in 1981 but left in 1997.
• ^c Rider University left in 1997 after spending five years in the NEC.

References

General

• "Records & History" (PDF, pg. 20). 2009–10 Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Media Guide. Northeast Conference. http://www.northeastconference.org/Sports/mbball/2009-10/guide/guide(68-100).pdf. Retrieved 14 April 2010. 

Specific

1. ^ ^{a b} "Rik Smits Bio". National Basketball Association. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/rik_smits/bio.html. Retrieved 14 April 2010. 
2. ^ CCSU's Ken Horton Named Northeast Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year, accessed March 1, 2011