2023-24 MBWA awards ballot

Another local college basketball season has come and gone, and with the calendar flipping from March to April, the transition signals the return of one offseason tradition:

The Metropolitan Basketball Writers’ Association awards.

This year’s recognitions, still the oldest continuous award ceremony in the sport, will be bestowed for the 91st time on April 18, inside the Sleepy Hollow Hotel and Conference Center in Tarrytown. A new face makes a return appearance in the program this year, as Princeton has once again become part of the MBWA footprint after a long hiatus. The Tigers will almost certainly be represented among the distinctions when they are officially announced.

The best part of the process, at least from where I sit, is getting to share my ballot with all of you and offer some explanations — either written or on social media — as to why I voted the way I did and for whom I did. This is the 12th consecutive season in which I’ve had the honor of casting a ballot for the best in the area, and I will once again reveal it here and on Twitter in the interest of transparency, interaction and fan engagement. Here it is:

Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award: Kadary Richmond, Seton Hall (15.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 5.1 APG, 2.2 SPG) (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Seton Hall’s leap forward from a team picked third-to-last in the Big East preseason poll to a team that won 13 conference games and surpassed expectations with a fourth-place finish was among the headline stories in the area all season, and Richmond was the biggest reason why. The Brooklyn native’s transformation into a two-way slasher and vocal senior leader sparked the Pirate renaissance, and kept Seton Hall in the NCAA Tournament conversation throughout the season. Richmond and the Pirates narrowly missed the field of 68, but will face Georgia Tuesday in the semifinals of the NIT, furthering one of the more impressive seasons in program history behind an experienced veteran core that Richmond has taken ownership of as its most prominent face. Should he win the Haggerty Award, he will be Seton Hall’s sixth recipient in the past nine seasons, continuing the lineage of Isaiah Whitehead (2016), Angel Delgado (2017), Myles Powell (2019 and 2020), and Sandro Mamukelashvili (2021).

Also considered: Tyler Thomas, Hofstra; Caden Pierce, Princeton

Rest of All-Met first team, in alphabetical order:

Mervin James, Rider

Daniss Jenkins, St. John’s

Xaivian Lee, Princeton

Caden Pierce, Princeton

Tyler Thomas, Hofstra

All-Met second team, in alphabetical order:

Dre Davis, Seton Hall

Al-Amir Dawes, Seton Hall

Dstone Dubar, Hofstra

Xander Rice, Monmouth

Corey Washington, Saint Peter’s

All-Met third team, in alphabetical order:

Matt Allocco, Princeton

Melvin Council, Jr., Wagner

Jalen Leach, Fairfield

Cliff Omoruyi, Rutgers

Joel Soriano, St. John’s

Honorable mentions, in alphabetical order:

Ansley Almonor, FDU

Jaquan Carlos, Hofstra

Jordan Dingle, St. John’s

Caleb Fields, Fairfield

Tyler Stephenson-Moore, Stony Brook

Rookie of the Year: Tariq Francis, NJIT (14.8 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 2.6 APG, 1.5 SPG) (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Grant Billmeier trumpeted his freshmen early and often during his first season in Newark, but kept a strong poker face as to which of his newcomers would be diamonds in the rough. Francis, a Pittsburgh native with a marksmanship beyond his years and veteran instinct, exceeded the highest of high-end predictions before the Highlanders even began conference play. The obvious choice for Rookie of the Year in the America East, Francis scored 20 or more points eight times this season, including a season and career-best 31 in NJIT’s upset of Vermont on February 8.

Also considered: Seydou Traore, Manhattan; Jeremiah Quigley, Iona

Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year: Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

Holloway demonstrated his coaching chops by helping craft the Pirates in his own image and turning Seton Hall into a blue-collar unit that out-toughed the majority of its opponents to produce a 23-win season that is still in progress at the time of this ballot going public. Despite his program’s limitations on the NIL front and resources when compared to some of its high-major brethren, South Orange’s adopted son continues to do more with less in much the same way he did at Saint Peter’s both before and during the Peacocks’ Cinderella run to the Elite 8 in 2022.

Also considered: Bashir Mason, Saint Peter’s; Chris Casey, Fairfield