Four Huskies honored at America East Awards Brunch
Other Huskies who were recognized were junior guard Jose Juan Barea, a unanimous selection to the America East All-Conference First Team, and senior guard Marcus Barnes, who landed a spot on the all-conference third team. James joined Barnes on the third team.
Everhart took a team that was picked fourth in the preseason coaches poll and steered it to a second-place finish in America East. The Huskies are the No. 2 seed in the America East Championship, its highest seeding since 1993. NU's 15 conference wins this season are the program's most since the 1986-87 squad won 17 league games.
This is the second time Everhart has been named conference coach of the year. He won the Southland Conference's award in 2001 when he was at McNeese State. He joins Jim Calhoun (1985-86) and Karl Fogel (1986-87) as Northeastern's coach of the year honorees.
James is the first player in America East history to earn two major awards in the same year. He leads the conference and ranks second in the nation in blocked shots (5.6). His 117 blocked shots this season are tied for the third most in league history. James' 7.8 rebounds a game are second in America East.
James is Northeastern's first recipient of the defensive player of the year award and its fourth rookie of the year, joining Reggie Lewis (1983-84), Kevin McDuffie (1984-85) and Jean Bain (1998-99).
Northeastern is just the third team in America East history to win as many as three end-of-the-year awards. The other two are the 1995-96 Drexel team and the 2001-02 Vermont squad.
This is the second year in a row Barea has been named a first-team performer. He was a third-teamer as a freshman in 2003. The 6'0 guard from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, leads America East in assists (7.2) and is second in scoring (21.9). He is the only player in the nation to rank in the NCAA top 10 in those two categories.
Barea is the fifth Husky to garner first-team honors more than once in his career. The others are Reggie Lewis (three times), Mark Halsel (three times), Pete Harris (twice) and Andre LaFleur (twice).
Barnes is fifth in America East in scoring (15.7), second in three-pointers made (2.73) and sixth in free throw percentage (80.7).
Northeastern has its sights set on its eighth America East championship. It will begin its quest Saturday, March 5 at 6 p.m., when it plays the winner of the Hartford-Stony Brook first-round matchup.
March 4, 2005
Binghamton University Union (Vestal, N.Y.)Northeastern nearly made it a clean sweep at the 2004 America East Championship Awards Brunch, coming away with three of the top four honors that were given out. The big winners were fourth-year head coach Ron Everhart, who was named America East Coach of the Year, and freshman forward Shawn James, who earned America East Rookie of the Year and America East Defensive Player of the Year honors.
