WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – The East Coast Conference announced its 2024 Men’s Basketball All-Conference honorees on Thursday afternoon, with St. Thomas Aquinas sophomore guard/forward James Patterson (Richmond, Va.) headlining the list as the league’s Player of the Year. Daemen graduate student forward Joey Atkins (Watervliet, N.Y.) was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year while Molloy freshman guard Rob Matos (Fredericksburg, Va.) earned Rookie of the Year honors. Staten Island head coach T.J. Tibbs received Coach of the Year recognition to round out the major award winners, with all voting completed by the league’s nine head coaches.
Patterson, now a two-time All-Conference First Team honoree after earning Rookie of the Year honors a season ago, was the selection as the league’s top player after leading the ECC in regular-season scoring with 24.0 points per game, which currently ranks him fifth in the nation. The STAC standout also led the ECC in total points (671, fifth nationally), free throws made (175, ninth nationally) and field goals made (221, 11th nationally), ranked second in total rebounds (232), sat third in rebounds per game (8.3, with 5.9 defensive) and total steals (47) and finished fourth in steals per game (1.68) and sixth in both field goal percentage (44.0) and free throw percentage (77.8). Patterson turned in 11 double-doubles, which ranked second in the ECC and 15th nationally, and scored in double figures 27 times in 28 games, including 23 20+ point games, five 30+ point games, and a 41-point game against Post on November 18. In an impressive feat, Patterson scored his 1000th point - as a sophomore - at Daemen on February 16.
Led by nine-time ECC Player of the Week Patterson, St. Thomas Aquinas (23-5, 14-2 ECC) led the ECC in multiple categories, including winning percentage (82.1), scoring offense (92.4 points per game), scoring margin (11.8), rebounds per game (42.8), and rebound margin (8.5).
The ECC Preseason Player of the Year, Atkins earns the title of the conference’s best defender after anchoring a Daemen defensive unit that held its opposition to an average of 71.9 points per game, the best average in the conference this year. Individually, the Wildcat star ranked third in the ECC in total blocks (50, 22nd nationally) and blocks per game (1.72, 26th nationally), fourth in total rebounds (213) and total steals (45), sixth in rebounds per game (7.3) and seventh in steals per game (1.55). Atkins added 12.2 points per game, with five double-doubles and 18 double-digit performances on the year, and turned in his second-straight season with 50 blocks.
Led by five-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week Atkins, Daemen (22-7, 12-4 ECC) also led the ECC in multiple categories, including field goal percentage (47.0), effective field goal percentage (54.1), and field goal percentage defense (41.6).
Matos was a three-time ECC Rookie of the Week honoree while averaging 19.0 points per game and 4.0 assists per game, ranking second in the ECC in the first category and fourth in the latter. The Molloy freshman also led all ECC rookies in total free throws made (117, second in the ECC) and free throw percentage (80.7, third in the ECC), while sitting in the conference’s top 10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.04) and total assists (84). Matos turned in 20 double-digit performances, including 12 20+ point games and a 30-point performance at Southern Connecticut State on December 30, and accounted for 22 percent of the Lions' scoring efforts on the year.
After guiding the Dolphins to a 19-9 overall record and 13-3 mark in conference play as well as the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, Staten Island’s Tibbs has earned ECC Coach of the Year honors from his peers. Under Tibbs’ direction, CSI ranked in the ECC’s top three in numerous categories including winning percentage (67.9), led the conference in three pointers made/attempted per game (9.9/26.2), and tied for the top average for assists per game (16.1). The 19 overall victories is a 10-win improvement over last season, and the 13 conference wins mark the most for Tibbs in his seven-year career at the helm of the Dolphins’ men’s basketball program.
Joining Patterson and Atkins on the First Team are Malik Brooks (Roberts Wesleyan), Dylan Fasoyiro (Daemen), Messiah Mallory (Staten Island), and Bryce Waterman (Staten Island).
All-Conference Second Team honorees are Matos, Sunnie Diamond (Queens), Eric Morgan, Jr. (District of Columbia), Kyle Pulliam (St. Thomas Aquinas), and Rich Smith (St. Thomas Aquinas).
Malik Bentinck (Queens), Kevin Constant (Roberts Wesleyan), Tevin Curtis, Jr. (District of Columbia), Justin Glover (Daemen), and Justin Hemphill (Daemen) round out the Third Team.
2023-24 ECC Men’s Basketball All-Conference
First Team
Joey Atkins, Daemen
Malik Brooks, Roberts Wesleyan
Dylan Fasoyiro, Daemen
Messiah Mallory, Staten Island
James Patterson, St. Thomas Aquinas
Bryce Waterman, Staten Island
Second Team
Sunnie Diamond, Queens
Rob Matos, Molloy
Eric Morgan, Jr., District of Columbia
Kyle Pulliam, St. Thomas Aquinas
Rich Smith, St. Thomas Aquinas
Third Team
Malik Bentinck, Queens
Kevin Constant, Roberts Wesleyan
Tevin Curtis, Jr., District of Columbia
Justin Glover, Daemen
Justin Hemphill, Daemen
Player of the Year: James Patterson, St. Thomas Aquinas
Defensive Player of the Year: Joey Atkins, Daemen
Rookie of the Year: Rob Matos, Molloy
Coach of the Year: T.J. Tibbs, Staten Island