2009-10 All-NESCAC Men's Basketball Team
HADLEY, Mass. – Senior Blake Schultz (Atherton, Calif.) of Williams has been chosen by the conference coaches as the NESCAC Player of the Year. Schultz helped the Ephs win the 2010 NESCAC Basketball Championship this past weekend, their fourth league crown. He joins the ranks of former Williams stars Rob Bice (1994), Mike Nogelo (1997-98), and Ben Coffin (2004) in winning the conference’s top honor.
Schultz was also selected as a First Team All-NESCAC member, as was was sophomore James Wang. Junior Troy Whittington was selected to the Second team. Ephs head coach Mike Maker was named the NESCAC Coach of the Year in just his second year at Williams.
The Ephs, currently ranked No. 2 in the country and 26-1 overall, will host a NCAA Div. III Tournament Second Round game Saturday at 7 p.m. between either Bridgewater State or UMaine-Farmington. Those teams meet Thursday in a first-round contest.
The Ephs’ top scorer for the second year in a row, Schultz currently leads the league with an average of 18.4 points per game heading into this weekend’s NCAA Tournament action. The two-time All-NESCAC First Team selection has been the high scorer in 13 out of 27 games this season for Williams with a notable performance coming against Vassar on Dec. 5, a night in which he poured in a career-high 34 points on 11-for-13 shooting from the field and 8-for-10 from beyond the arc.
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| James Wang '12 |
"I can't think of a more deserving player or person than Blake Schultz," Maker said. "He has meant an
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| Troy Whittington '11 |
awful lot to this basketball program with his competitive spirit, his will to win and his committment to the children in our local community. All of those contributions, on and off the court, make him a real deserving honoree."
Schultz is a threat to score from anywhere on the ???oor but has been especially deadly from long range, hitting a NESCAC-best 51.3 percent of his three-point attempts and draining 61 treys. Overall, Schultz has hit 52.1 percent of his shots (10th NESCAC) and 84.0 percent of his free throw attempts (4th) while also contributing 4.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.6 steals per game.
On Monday, Schultz was named as one of 10 finalists for the Jostens Trophy, given annually to the top Division III player in the nation based on basketball ability, academic ability, and community service. Earlier this season, Schultz became the 28th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point miletsone.
"He's going to finish in as a top 10 scorer and rebounder in Williams history, and given the people we've had in the program, that is saying an awful lot," Maker said. "He's unselfish on the court, and his leadership abilities have gone a long way in getting this team to where it is now. He's just very deserving of the award."
Starting all 27 games, Wang is second for Williams in scoring and fifth among all league players with 16.9 points per game while ranking third in the conference in assists (4.56) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.86). Like Schultz, Wang is a prolific shooter, converting 57.1 percent of his attempts from the floor, 50.9 percent from three-point range, and 84.6 percent from the foul line - figures that put him in the top five in all three categories in the NESCAC.
During the quarterfinals of the 2010 NESCAC Men’s Basketball Championship, Wang dropped a career-high 30 points in a win over Wesleyan.
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| Mike Maker |
"James Wang is a very dynamic player," Maker said. "His quickness, his explosiveness and his flamboyance iis very enjoyable to watch for our fans, his teammates and coaches. He's made a major impact on our program in a short period of time. On top of that, he's a very good teammate."
Whittington has emerged as a impact player as well this year, averaging 11.7 points per game and securing 5.7 rebounds a contest for the Ephs. He is shooting a team-leading 69.6 percent (119 of 171) from the floor this season, at one point leading the nation in field goal percentage. He leads the NESCAC in that category. He also has 63 blocks to date.
"I'm so very proud of Troy for his many accomplishments this
season," Maker said. "But I'm most proud of the maturation process
he has gone through on and off the court. His athleticism and his
IQ for the game have made us a more viable team."
In only his second season with the Ephs, Maker has guided his team
to an impressive 26-1 record en route to this year’s NESCAC
Men’s Basketball title - the program’s first since 2007
- and a first round bye in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. He currently
has an .812 (43-10) winning percentage at Williams.
