Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual award given to the Northeast Conference's (NEC) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1982–83 season, when the league was known as the ECAC Metro Conference.^{[lower-alpha 1]}

NEC Men's Basketball
Player of the Year

Awarded for	the most outstanding basketball player in the Northeast Conference
Country	United States
History
First award	1983
Most recent	Jordan Derkack, Merrimack

The most well-recognized NEC Player of the Year is Marist's Rik Smits, who won the award in both 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] In 2021–22, Alex Morales of Wagner became just the fourth NEC player to be named player of the year for two consecutive seasons, and the first since Charles Jones of Long Island University in 1997 and 1998.

LIU has the most winners with eight, all of whom represented Long Island University's Brooklyn campus before the school merged the athletic programs of its Brooklyn and Post campuses in July 2019. Robert Morris, which left the NEC for the Horizon League in 2020, is in second with six. All charter members of the Northeast Conference that are still members have had at least one winner.

Key

†	Co-Players of the Year
*	Awarded a national player of the year award: UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present)
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the NEC Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Rik Smits, Marist, 1987 and 1988

Desi Wilson, Fairleigh Dickinson, 1990

Chad Timberlake, Fairleigh Dickinson, 1990

Javier Mojica, Central Connecticut, 2007

Jeremy Chappell, Robert Morris, 2009

Ken Horton, Central Connecticut, 2011

Karvel Anderson, Robert Morris, 2014

Jalen Cannon, St. Francis Brooklyn, 2015

Jerome Frink, Long Island, 2017

Junior Robinson (white), Mount St. Mary's, 2018

Isaiah Blackmon, Saint Francis (PA), 2020

Jordan Minor, Merrimack, 2023

Season	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
1982–83	Steve Smith	Marist	SG	Senior	[2]
1983–84†	Chipper Harris	Robert Morris	SG	Senior	[3]
	Robert Jackson	St. Francis (NY)	F	Senior	[3]
	Carey Scurry	Long Island	PF	Junior	[3]
1984–85	Carey Scurry (2)	Long Island	PF	Senior	[4]
1985–86	Terrance Bailey	Wagner	SG	Junior	[5]
1986–87	Rik Smits	Marist	C	Junior	[6]
1987–88	Rik Smits (2)	Marist	C	Senior	[6]
1988–89	Vaughn Luton	Robert Morris	G	Senior	[7]
1989–90	Desi Wilson	Fairleigh Dickinson	F	Junior	[8]
1990–91	Mike Iuzzolino	Saint Francis (PA)	PG	Senior	[9]
1991–92	Myron Walker	Robert Morris	SG	Sophomore	[10]
1992–93	Darrick Suber	Rider	SG	Senior	[11]
1993–94	Izett Buchanan	Marist	SF	Senior	[12]
1994–95	Joe Griffin	Long Island	PF	Senior	[13]
1995–96	Chris McGuthrie	Mount St. Mary's	PG	Senior	[14]
1996–97	Charles Jones	Long Island	PG / SG	Junior	[15]
1997–98	Charles Jones (2)	Long Island	PG / SG	Senior	[15]
1998–99	Ray Minlend	St. Francis (NY)	PG	Senior	[16]
1999–00	Rick Mickens	Central Connecticut	SG	Senior	[17]
2000–01	Rahsaan Johnson	Monmouth	PG	Junior	[18]
2001–02	Corsley Edwards	Central Connecticut	F	Senior	[19]
2002–03	Jermaine Hall	Wagner	SF	Senior	[15]
2003–04	Ron Robinson	Central Connecticut	F	Senior	[20]
2004–05	Blake Hamilton	Monmouth	PF	Senior	[21]
2005–06	Chad Timberlake	Fairleigh Dickinson	SG	Senior	[22]
2006–07	Javier Mojica	Central Connecticut	SG / PG	Senior	[23]
2007–08	Tony Lee	Robert Morris	PG	Senior	[24]
2008–09	Jeremy Chappell	Robert Morris	SG	Senior	[25]
2009–10	Justin Rutty	Quinnipiac	PF	Junior	[26]
2010–11	Ken Horton	Central Connecticut	SF	Junior	[27]
2011–12	Julian Boyd	Long Island	PF	Junior	[28]
2012–13	Jamal Olasewere	Long Island	PF	Senior	[29]
2013–14	Karvel Anderson	Robert Morris	SG	Senior	[30]
2014–15	Jalen Cannon	St. Francis Brooklyn	PF	Senior	[31]
2015–16	Cane Broome	Sacred Heart	SG	Sophomore	[32]
2016–17	Jerome Frink	Long Island	SF	Senior	[33]
2017–18	Junior Robinson	Mount St. Mary's	PG	Senior	[34]
2018–19	Keith Braxton	Saint Francis (PA)	PG	Junior	[35]
2019–20	Isaiah Blackmon	Saint Francis (PA)	PG	Senior	[36]
2020–21	Alex Morales	Wagner	SG	Senior	[15]
2021–22	Alex Morales (2)	Wagner	SG	Graduate	[15]
2022–23	Josh Cohen	Saint Francis (PA)	PF	Junior	[37]
	Jordan Minor	Merrimack	PF	Senior	[37]
2023–24	Jordan Derkack	Merrimack	G	Sophomore	[38]

Winners by school

School (year joined)	Winners	Years
LIU (1981)[lower-alpha 2]	8	1984†, 1985, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2012, 2013, 2017
Robert Morris (1981)[lower-alpha 3]	6	1984†, 1989, 1992, 2008, 2009, 2014
Central Connecticut (1997)	5	2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2011
Marist (1981)[lower-alpha 4]	4	1983, 1987, 1988, 1994
Saint Francis (PA) (1981)	4	1991, 2019, 2020, 2023†
Wagner (1981)	4	1986, 2003, 2021, 2022
St. Francis Brooklyn (1981)[lower-alpha 5]	3	1984†, 1999, 2015
Fairleigh Dickinson (1981)	2	1990, 2006
Merrimack (2019)[lower-alpha 6]	2	2023†, 2024
Monmouth (1985)[lower-alpha 7]	2	2001, 2005
Mount St. Mary's (1989)[lower-alpha 8]	2	1996, 2018
Quinnipiac (1998)[lower-alpha 7]	1	2010
Rider (1992)[lower-alpha 9]	1	1993
Sacred Heart (1999)[lower-alpha 6]	1	2016
Bryant (2008)[lower-alpha 10]	0	—
Chicago State (2024)	0	—
Le Moyne (2023)	0	—
Loyola (MD) (1981)[lower-alpha 11]	0	—
Mercyhurst (2024)	0	—
Siena (1981)[lower-alpha 12]	0	—
Stonehill (2022)	0	—
UMBC (1998)[lower-alpha 13]	0	—

Footnotes

1. 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.
2. From 1981 to 2019, Long Island University was represented in the Northeast Conference by its Brooklyn campus, known for athletic purposes as "Long Island" through the 2012–13 season and "LIU Brooklyn" from 2013–14 forward. After the 2018–19 season, LIU merged the athletic programs of its Brooklyn and Post campuses into a single program, now competing as the LIU Sharks, that inherited the NCAA Division I and Northeast Conference memberships of the Brooklyn campus.
3. Robert Morris University was a charter member in 1981, but left in 2020 to join the Horizon League.
4. Marist College was a charter member in 1981, but left in 1997 to join the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC).
5. St. Francis College discontinued its athletic program after the 2022–23 season.
6. Merrimack College and Sacred Heart University left in 2024 for the MAAC.
7. Monmouth University and Quinnipiac University left in 2013 for the MAAC. Monmouth has since moved to the Coastal Athletic Association, while Quinnipiac remains in the MAAC.
8. Mount St. Mary's University left in 2022 for the MAAC.
9. Rider University, which had spent five seasons in the NEC, left in 1997 to join the MAAC.
10. Bryant University left in 2022 for the America East Conference.
11. Loyola University Maryland (then Loyola College in Maryland), also a charter member, left in 1989 to join the MAAC, and is now in the Patriot League.
12. Siena College, also a charter member, left in 1984 to join the MAAC.
13. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) left in 2003 to join the America East Conference.

In addition, one charter member, Towson University (then Towson State University), left after the conference's first season of 1981–82, before the player of the year award was created. The Tigers left for the East Coast Conference, and are now in the Coastal Athletic Association.

References

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