WOPPERER NAMED TO ECAC SECOND TEAM
Apr. 20: Senior guard and captain Tom Wopperer was named to the 2008-09 ECAC Division III Upstate Second Team in early April after pacing the St. Lawrence University men’s basketball team to a 22-7 record and an NCAA ‘Sweet 16’ berth this past season.
Wopperer (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) led the Saints with a career-high 483 points, averaging 16.7 points per game. The senior captain was a unanimous Liberty League First Team pick and was a six-time 'Guard of the Week' pick this season. He reached the 1,000-point milestone against Plattsburgh, where he recorded a career-high 36 points for the Saints. He guided the squad to its second straight conference regular season title and ranking among the best in the conference in several statistical categories. He was also a 2009 East Region First Team selection according to the National Basketball Association of Coaches.
Only two athletes from the Liberty League were named ECAC All-Stars, while ten players in the entire Upstate Division were awarded the honor.
DOWNS NAMED NEW BALANCE-BCANY
COACH OF THE YEAR
Apr. 14: St. Lawrence University men’s basketball head coach Chris Downs was named the New Balance – Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) Men’s College Division Coach of the Year last week after guiding the Saints to another winning season that included a trip to the NCAA ‘Sweet 16’.
Downs, who was also named Liberty League Coach of the Year as well as East Region Coach of the Year, led the Scarlet and Brown to their second straight regular season conference title and the Liberty League championship game. The Saints, who were ranked among the top teams in the region throughout the entire season, earned home court advantage in the opening rounds of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, where St. Lawrence defeated Brooklyn and SUNY IT in the first and second rounds, respectively, before advancing to the ‘Sweet 16’, where they fell to eventual national finalist Richard Stockton by a score of 71-68. The Saints completed the season with a 22-7 overall record and a 12-2 league mark. Downs also reached 200 career wins at St. Lawrence in the conference semifinal game against Clarkson.
The Basketball Coaches Association of New York, Inc. is an organization that is made up of basketball coaches of all scholastic and collegiate levels throughout the entire State of New York. The organization was founded in 1983 and has experienced consistent growth in numbers and activities since then.
Downs will be presented with the award the 28th Annual BCANY Fall Clinic to be held in Albany, NY, October 2-3, 2009.
