Walters Named GNAC Player of the Year; Four Falcons Earn All-GNAC Honors

Posted: Feb 26, 2018

Winthrop, Mass. – For the second consecutive year in a row, senior forward Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) of the Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team was named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Basketball Player of the Year as announced by the league office on Monday. Walters was also named to the GNAC All-Conference First Team.

Albertus Magnus 11th-year head coach Mitch Oliver was voted the GNAC Coach of the Year by his peers, as the Falcons went 21-6 overall and 15-1 in league play. They led the league in both points (84.3) and rebounding (43.6) per game and got to the free-throw line 179 more times than the next closest GNAC program.

Teammates Amir Maddred (Camden, N.J.), junior Ryan Pittman (Stratford, Conn.) and sophomore Jahmerikah Green-Younger (Norwalk, Conn.) earned Third Team honors.

Walters enjoyed a banner season for the Falcons, who won the GNAC regular-season title. He was first among GNAC leaders in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 26.5 points and 15.0 boards per game. He was also efficient from the floor, ranking sixth in the league in shooting at 54.8 percent. A native of Hartford, Conn., Walters topped 30 points eight times, including three 40-point performances, and exceeded 20 rebounds five times. He had 24 double-doubles, including a 22-point, 25-rebound performance in the GNAC Championship game, which saw Albertus fall to Johnson & Wales University in an 84-80 thriller. This season in the win over Emmanuel (Mass.), Walters recorded 14 rebounds to become the third player in program history to record 1,000 career rebounds.

Maddred appeared in 27 games for the Falcons, averaging 10.5 points and 6.6 rebounds a game. The senior center knocked down 56.6 percent of his shots from the field, ranking him second in the conference. He registered six double-doubles as well as ranked fourth in the league in offensive rebounds with 70. Maddred also concluded the season with 10 assists, 15 blocks and 12 steals.

In his third year on campus, Pittman led the team in assists, collecting 89 on the season. He ended the year fourth on the team averaging 10.4 points a game behind 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 62.6 percent from the charity stipe. This year, Pittman led the team averaging 3.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game and finished the season averaging 3.6 rebounds.

Green-Younger saw action in 18 games, including 17 starts, averaging 15.0 points a game behind a 42.3 percent shooting from behind the arc, ranking him fourth in the league and first on the team. He scored a career-high 32 points against Lasell in the GNAC Semifinals as well as posted seven 20-point performances. The sophomore guard finished out the campaign with a career-best 47 rebounds, 18 steals and four blocks.

In addition, junior Jemma Yuori (Ghana) earned a spot on the GNAC All-Sportsmanship Team. This season, Yuori appeared in 16 games netting a total of eight points while shooting 57.1 percent from the field to go along with 12 rebounds, three assists and three blocks.

For the fourth time in school history, the Falcons produced the GNAC Player of the Year in both men's and women's basketball as Jaqhawn Walters (Hartford, Conn.) was tagged as the GNAC Men's Basketball Player of the Year for 2018. Former Falcons Lianna Carrero and Darius Watson earned the honors in 2014 and Kendra Walker and Ray Askew were tagged as GNAC Player of the Year in 2010. Natalie Perlaza and Tim Russell were the first Falcon duo to claimed the honors in 2005.