ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (Mar. 9, 2022) – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), today announced the 2021-22 Men’s Basketball Major Awards, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Headlining the 2021-22 major award winners was Iona College’s Tyson Jolly, claiming MAAC Player of the Year accolades. Also picking up hardware were Saint Peter’s University’s KC Ndefo, winning MAAC Defensive Player of the Year, Jolly’s teammate Dylan van Eyck was selected as MAAC Sixth Player of the Year, and Marist College’s Jao Ituka was unanimously chosen as MAAC Rookie of the Year.
The only unanimous selection to the All-MAAC First Team, Jolly ended the regular season by averaging 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. He ranked tied for sixth in the conference in scoring, ninth in three-point field goal percentage, seventh in blocked shots and 12th in offensive rebounds. He was honored as MAAC Player of the Week on Feb. 28 and also earned a spot on the ESPN Events Invitational All-Tournament Team in November. Jolly is the first Player of the Year from Iona since David Laury following 2014-15 and ninth overall Gael to win the award.
Ndefo secured his third consecutive MAAC Defensive Player of the Year honor, becoming just the third player in MAAC history to win the award three times, joining Manhattan’s Rhamel Brown (2012-14) and Fairfield’s Deng Gai (2002-03, 2005). He rejected 2.7 shots per game, first in the MAAC, and recorded 1.3 steals per outing, sixth in the MAAC. It was the third straight year that Ndefo led the conference in blocks, while also ranking top-10 in steals.
The best reserve in the MAAC, van Eyck closed out his final season in New Rochelle by averaging 8.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists off the bench for the regular season champion Gaels. His 2.07 assists to turnover ratio was the best mark in the league and he ranked eighth in the conference in both assists and blocks. With the award, van Eyck becomes the first Gael in school history to claim Sixth Player of the Year honors.
A unanimous MAAC All-Rookie Team selection, Ituka ranked third overall in the conference with his 15.5 points per game average. He posted the eighth-best field goal percentage amongst MAAC players, connecting on 53 percent of his shot attempts and ranked 13th in free throw percentage shooting. The freshman claimed a league-best nine Rookie of the Week awards in 2021-22, and added a MAAC Player of the Week award on Dec. 20, following a 34-point outburst against Boston University, the second-highest scoring output by any league player this season. Ituka joins former Red Foxes’ Khalid Hart (2013-14) and Jay Gavin (2007-08) as the only other Rookie of the Years from Marist.
The 2021-22 campaign culminates with the 2022 Hercules Tires MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships from March 8-12 at Atlantic City's Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall. Stay up to date with all MAAC basketball by visiting
MAACSports.com/basketball and by following @MAACHoops and #MAACHoops on Twitter.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 41st year of competition during the 2021-22 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.
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