http://uncwsports.com/news/2015/3/5/MBB_0305153414.aspx

CAA Rewards Seahawks For Outstanding Hoops Season

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – On the eve of the 2015 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship, the UNCW men's basketball team has landed several postseason honors in the end-of-the-regular season balloting by the league's coaches and media members.

First-year Head Coach Kevin Keatts headlines the list as the CAA Coach-of-the-Year after piloting the resurgent Seahawks to a remarkable "worst to first" season in 2014-15. Senior guard Addison Spruill (Pender HS/Currie, N.C.) was named First-Team All-CAA, senior guard Freddie Jackson (New Hanover HS/Wilmington, N.C.) was selected Second-Team All-CAA and also to the CAA's All-Defensive Team and newcomer Jordon Talley (Henrico HS/Richmond, Va.) nabbed All-Rookie Team accolades. Junior forward Kevin Hickson (Providence Day/Charlotte, N.C.) also earned All-Academic recognition.

The Seahawks were picked to finish ninth in the 10-team league in the CAA's preseason poll, but startled observers by soaring into first place down the stretch and snagging the regular season championship with James Madison, Northeastern and William & Mary.

The Seahawks, 17-12 overall and 12-6 in the CAA, carry the No. 2 seed into Saturday's 6 p.m. quarterfinal matchup at Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore against either Drexel or the College of Charleston.

Keatts, who took over the helm of the program last April, wasted no time in overhauling the Seahawk fortunes. He repurposed the roster, instilled a winning attitude and steered the Seahawks to an upset of CAA preseason favorite Northeastern in the first conference road game of the season. When the regular season concluded last Saturday, the Seahawks had posted a 10-2 winning record at home and a commendable 7-10 road mark during a treacherous road-heavy schedule that included just three non-conference home contests.

"Getting Coach-of-the-Year is great, but you have to attribute that to your players and coaching staff," said Keatts. "Coaches don't do to the playing, so it comes down to the players and the staff."

The energetic Keatts piloted the Seahawks to their most conference wins since 2007-08 behind an aggressive defense and opportunistic offense. UNCW led the CAA in steals and forced 74 more turnovers by conference opponents during the course of the season.

Keatts' selection marks the fifth Coach-of-the-Year honor for the Seahawks. Jerry Wainwright won the coveted award in 1997 and 2001 and Brad Brownell garnered it in 2003 and 2006. Keatts also becomes only the fourth skipper in CAA history to be named CofY in his first season, joining Jeff Capel, Jr./VCU (1995), Brownell/UNCW (2003) and Anthony Grant/VCU (2007) on the unique list.

A muscle-bound backcourt performer, Spruill became the 14th player in UNCW history to land First-Team All-CAA honors following an outstanding senior season. The transfer from Brevard (Fla.) College led the team in scoring (14.5 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg) and ranked seventh in scoring and fourth in rebounding in the CAA. In addition, he reached double figures in 23-of-29 games and paced the Seahawks in scoring 10 times, including a 33-point outburst on Jan. 14 at William & Mary.

"Addison's matured in so many ways," said Keatts. "When I first took the job, I looked at a lot of video and he took a lot of challenged shots. Addison now understands who he is and he understand his game. He's not taking as many three-pointers and he's great from 15 to18 feet."

The slippery Jackson capped a stellar career by landing Second-Team All-CAA and All-Defensive Team laurels. The local product ranked second on the team in scoring (13.2 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.8 rpg). He reached double figures in scoring 19 times and finished 11th in the CAA in scoring. Jackson also wound up second in the conference in steals with 1.6 spg.

Talley, meanwhile, took over as the team's floor general with the advent of the CAA schedule and was rock steady for Keatts & Co. The Richmond, Va., playmaker ended up fourth on the club in scoring (8.6 ppg) and led the team with 85 assists - third most by a freshman in UNCW history. He was named CAA Rookie-of-the-Week twice during the regular season. Talley is UNCW's first All-Rookie selection since Adam Smith in 2010-11.

Hickson, a 6-8, 215-pounder, joined the club as a walk-on and appeared in 14 games, making his only start of the campaign on Nov. 22, 2014, at VMI. He is completing his degree requirements in his major of Business.


2014-15 CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL AWARD WINNERS


First Team All-CAA Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School

Scott Eatherton, Northeastern Sr. F 6-8 234 Hershey, Pa./Hershey
Juan'ya Green, Hofstra Jr. G 6-2 195 Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Carroll
Damion Lee, Drexel Jr. G 6-6 200 Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall
Addison Spruill, UNCW Sr. G 6-4 225 Currie, N.C./Pender
Marcus Thornton, William & Mary Sr. G 6-4 190 Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara


Second Team All-CAA Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School

Ron Curry, James Madison Jr. G 6-4 190 Pennsauken, N.J./Paul VI
Freddie Jackson, UNCW Sr. G 6-4 185 Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover
Ameen Tanksley, Hofstra Jr. G/F 6-5 230 Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter
Terry Tarpey, William & Mary Jr. G 6-5 210 Stamford, Conn./Fairfield Prep
David Walker, Northeastern Jr. G 6-6 196 Stow, Ohio/Stow-Munroe Falls


Third Team All-CAA Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School

Kyle Anderson, Delaware Sr. G 6-3 195 Newark, Ill./Newark
Elijah Bryant, Elon Fr. G 6-4 225 Gwinnett, Ga./New Hampton School
Yohanny Dalembert, JMU So. F 6-8 225 Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Lower Merion (Pa.)
John Davis, Towson So. F 6-5 215 Philadelphia, Pa./Ss. Neumann-Goretti
Omar Prewitt, William & Mary So. G/F 6-6 190 Mount Sterling, Ky./Montgomery County


2014-15 CAA Player of the Year – Marcus Thornton, William & Mary
2014-15 CAA Coach of the Year – Kevin Keatts, UNCW
2014-15 CAA Rookie of the Year – Elijah Bryant, Elon
2014-15 CAA Defensive Player of the Year – Terry Tarpey, William & Mary
2014-15 Dean Ehlers Leadership Award – Caleb Donnelly, Northeastern and Tom Schalk, William & Mary


CAA All-Rookie Team Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School

Elijah Bryant, Elon Fr. G 6-4 225 Gwinnett, Ga./New Hampton School
Chivarsky Corbett, Delaware Fr. G 6-7 195 Tampa, Fla./Tampa Catholic
Kory Holden, Delaware Fr. G 6-2 180 Salisbury, Md./J.M. Bennett
Mike Morsell, Towson Fr. F 6-5 190 Fort Washington, Md./St. John's College
Jordon Talley, UNCW Fr. G 6-0 180 Richmond, Va./Henrico


CAA All-Defensive Team Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School

Yohanny Dalembert, JMU So. F 6-8 225 Port-au-Prince, Haiti/Lower Merion (Pa.)
Scott Eatherton, Northeastern Sr. F 6-8 234 Hershey, Pa./Hershey
Freddie Jackson, UNCW Sr. G 6-4 185 Wilmington, N.C./New Hanover
Damion Lee, Drexel Jr. G 6-6 200 Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall
Terry Tarpey, William & Mary Jr. G 6-5 210 Stamford, Conn./Fairfield Prep


CAA All-Academic Team Cl. Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown/High School

Kyle Anderson, Delaware Sr. G 6-3 195 Newark, Ill./Newark
Canyon Barry, Coll. of Charleston So. G 6-6 195 Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain
Dimitrije Cabarkapa, JMU So. F 6-10 240 Novi Sad, Serbia/High Medical School
Caleb Donnelly, Northeastern Jr. G 6-1 181 Hudson, N.H./Alvirne
Luke Eddy, Elon So. G 6-0 170 Charleston, W.Va./George Washington
Christian Hairston, Elon So. G/F 6-7 190 Greensboro, N.C./Greensboro Day School
Kevin Hickson, UNCW Jr. F 6-8 215 Charlotte, N.C./Wofford
Damion Lee, Drexel Jr. G 6-6 200 Baltimore, Md./Calvert Hall
Four McGlynn, Towson Jr. G 6-2 180 York, Pa./Dallastown Area
Dion Nesmith, Hofstra Gr. G 6-1 215 Union, N.J./Union
Timajh Parker-Rivera, Towson Jr. F 6-7 215 Milford, Conn./St. Joseph
Tom Schalk, William & Mary Sr. F 6-8 225 Burnsville, Minn./Apple Valley
Michael Schlotman, W&M R-Fr. G 6-6 200 Munster, Ind./Munster
Rodney Williams, Drexel So. F 6-7 220 Richmond, Va./St. Christopher's
Ryan Winters, Elon Sr. F 6-7 210 Denver, Colo./Regis Jesuit

Your predictions were pretty accurate

What lottery numbers should i get?

Congrats to Coach and our 3 All Caa winners!

congrats

(03-05-2015 08:55 PM)Seahawkhoops Wrote:  Your predictions were pretty accurate

Not sure how the CAA could justify putting Juan'ya Green over Ron Curry on the 1st team. JMU tied for the regular season crown and Curry made that team tick. Had they done that then each of the 4 top teams would have had 1 very deserving representative each; perfect.

But no matter. Congrats to Coach Keatts, Addison, Freddie, Jordon and Kevin Hickson! Very well-earned honors after a fantastic season.

Congrats to our All-Star Seahawks--well deserved recognition!

Congrats guys, now finish the job one good time Hawks!

(03-05-2015 08:59 PM)solohawks Wrote:  Congrats to Coach and our 3 All Caa winners!

Make "our 4 All-CAA winners". (Hickson...don't forget academics)

I noticed it 70's. It's always good to have good students, always. And, I love smart ball players. Davidson is a really good example. I'm not sure how good they do in the classroom, but they really play smart.

(03-06-2015 08:41 AM)billthebighawksfan Wrote:  Davidson is a really good example. I'm not sure how good they do in the classroom, but they really play smart.

They sure waxed vcu last night.

(03-06-2015 09:15 AM)Proff Wrote:  

(03-06-2015 08:41 AM)billthebighawksfan Wrote:  Davidson is a really good example. I'm not sure how good they do in the classroom, but they really play smart.

They sure waxed vcu last night.

Apparently VCU lost a key player that has rendered them a lesser threat in the Big Dance, whereas before they would have represented a dangerous 6-seed type. Granted, Tournament teams not acquainted with VCU's style may not be able to take advantage like familiar A-10 teams did.

(03-06-2015 08:41 AM)billthebighawksfan Wrote:  I noticed it 70's. It's always good to have good students, always. And, I love smart ball players. Davidson is a really good example. I'm not sure how good they do in the classroom, but they really play smart.

You could count Freddie twice.

Way to go on those predictions SN08. Where's that troll at that was giving you a hard time about them over on the WM boards? It wasn't a WM poster. Was it that poster from Maine?

(03-06-2015 01:33 PM)CoastGuardHawk06 Wrote:  Way to go on those predictions SN08. Where's that troll at that was giving you a hard time about them over on the WM boards? It wasn't a WM poster. Was it that poster from Maine?

It was a Northeastern poster. And he actually still has a case, lol. I put Eatherton on the 2nd team and he ended up a 1st teamer.

Very deserving awards.I thought Jackson had a shot at 1st team before the ankle issue but these guys really stepped up.

(03-06-2015 05:10 PM)jumpinmullet Wrote:  Very deserving awards.I thought Jackson had a shot at 1st team before the ankle issue but these guys really stepped up.

Classy post by The Mullet....