2008-09 All-PSAC Men's Basketball Teams
Lock Haven, Pa. - Kutztown’s Dave Ben has been named the PSAC East Player of the Year while Slippery Rock’s Denell Stephens has been named the PSAC West Player of the Year, as those two players highlight the 2008-09 All-PSAC men’s basketball teams as voted on by the league’s head coaches. Ben, a former PSAC East Rookie of the Year in 2006, becomes the second Kutztown player in the last four years to earn East Player of the Year honors as Bruce Hall was honored as the East’s top player in 2006 as well. Stephens is the first Slippery Rock player to earn the West Player of the Year award since Myron Brown in 1991.
Ben, a senior out of Coatesville, Pa., is one of two Kutztown players to average over 20 points per game for the Golden Bears, who will enter the NCAA regional this weekend as the No. 3 seed in the region. He is currently third in the PSAC in scoring at 21.1 points per game. Ben, who is also seventh in the league in assists per game at 3.9 and second in steals at 2.1 per game, became Kutztown’s all-time leading scorer earlier this season. He also ranked among the league leaders in three-point shooting percentage, three-point field goals made, assist-turnover ratio and minutes played.
Stephens, who played two seasons at Cecil (Md.) Community College and one season at Angelo State (Tex.) before transferring to Slippery Rock for his senior season this year, ranked fourth in the PSAC in scoring this year at 20.0 points per game and second in rebounding at 9.6 rebounds per game. He helped lead Slippery Rock to its first 20-win season since 1991 and 14 more wins than last year, a 300 percent improvement. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native also had the fourth-best field goal percentage in the league at 57.5 percent and also ranked among the league leaders in steals and was the conference’s top offensive rebounder at 3.8 per game.
Mansfield’s Tony Fannick is the PSAC East Freshman of the Year, breaking a three-year run of Kutztown freshman winning the award. Fannick is Mansfield’s first PSAC Freshman of the Year since Bill McNeil in 2003. The native of nearby Milton, Pa. helped the Mountaineers qualify for the PSAC Tournament this year by averaging 10.0 points and 5.1 rebounds and was named the PSAC East Freshman of the Week five times this year, tied for the most of any freshman. He was one of four players on the team to average double figures in points and was the second-leading rebounder for Mansfield. IUP’s Julian Sanders is the PSAC West Freshman of the Year. He is the third straight Crimson Hawk to win the award, following teammates Darryl Webb last year and Gerald Brooks two years ago. Sanders was one of five players to average double figures in points for IUP, finishing third on the team with 11.6 points per game. He currently leads the PSAC in three pointers per game with 2.6 and is fourth in three-point field goal percentage at 40.8 percent. The four-time PSAC West Freshman of the Week will help lead IUP into the NCAA regional this weekend as the No. 7 seed.
Bernie Driscoll of Kutztown is the PSAC East Coach of the Year for the second time in his career and for the first time since 2003. He led the Golden Bears to a PSAC East title and a 15-game winning streak earlier this year. Although this year marked the seventh straight year that Kutztown advanced to the PSAC Tournament, it marked the first time since 2004 that the Bears advanced past the first round as they made to the championship game before falling to league champ Gannon. Slippery Rock’s Kevin Reynolds is the PSAC West Coach of the Year in his first year as head coach at The Rock. He is the first Rock coach to be honored as the West coach of the year since Anthony Jones in 2000. Reynolds led The Rock to a second place finish in the PSAC West, the semifinals of the PSAC Tournament and the brink of an NCAA Tournament berth, as Rock fell just one spot shy in the regional rankings of getting their first berth since the 1991 season. Despite the narrow miss on the NCAA Tournament, Reynolds still guided The Rock to its first winning season since 1999-2000 and their first 20-win season since 1990-91.
The All-PSAC East first team was highlighted by both Ben and his teammate Stephen Dennis, the PSAC’s leading scorer, both of whom are now three-time All-PSAC East selections. Ben will end his career as a three-time first team All-PSAC East honoree while this is Dennis’ second straight year on the first team after being named to the second team as a freshman. The Golden Bear duo is joined by East Stroudsburg’s Chris Bach and Cheyney’s Tyrone Smith, both of whom were second team picks last year. The West Chester duo of Ralph Hegamin and Kenny St. George round out the team, with St. George also being on the second team last year. The second team consists of five new faces and one repeat selection from last year. Kutztown senior Andre Woodlin earns second team honors for the second straight year and is joined by teammate Ryan Washington, last year’s PSAC East Freshman of the Year, giving the Golden Bears a league-best four all-conference selections. Mansfield’s Yuseff Carr and Millersville’s Makal Stibbins are each the lone representatives from their teams on the all-conference team while West Chester’s Kehinde Roberts and Cheyney’s Dominique Curry round out the team.
Both the All-PSAC West first and second teams are dotted by several new faces. In addition to Stephens, Pierre Howard and Joe Lindsey of league newcomer and PSAC champion Gannon are featured on the first team. Edinboro’s Joe Jones, the second-leading scorer in the conference at 21.4 points per game, is the only repeat first team selection from last year. The IUP duo of Gerald Brooks and Darryl Webb round out the first team. Brooks, a junior, makes his first appearance on the first team after being on the second team for the last two consecutive years while Webb, a sophomore, was also on the second team last year. Lock Haven’s Billy Arre highlights the second team. He ends his career as a four-time All-PSAC West selection, twice on the second team and twice on the first team. The remainder of the second team is all first time honorees. It features Slippery Rock’s Kyle Camper, who set a new PSAC record for single-season assists, California (Pa.)’s Jerial Nixon, Clarion’s Josh Yanke and the Mercyhurst duo of Jordan Armstrong and Brian McTear.
2008-09 All-PSAC East Men’s Basketball Team
First Team
Chris Bach^ East Stroudsburg Sr. Levittown, Pa./Harry S. Truman
Dave Ben** Kutztown Sr. Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville
Stephen Dennis*^ Kutztown Jr. West Chester, Pa./Henderson
Ralph Hegamin West Chester Sr. Virginia Beach, Va./Floyd Kellam
Tyrone Smith^ Cheyney Jr. Philadelphia, Pa./Simon Gratz
Kenny St. George^ West Chester Jr. Philadelphia, Pa./Central
Second Team
Yuseff Carr Mansfield So. New York, N.Y./East NY Transit Tech
Dominique Curry Cheyney Sr. Philadelphia, Pa./George Washington
Kehinde Roberts West Chester Jr. London, England/Bishop Shannahan
Makal Stibbins Millersville Sr. Philadelphia, Pa./John Bartram
Ryan Washington Kutztown So. Philadelphia, Pa./Wissahickon
Andre Woodlin^ Kutztown Sr. Philadelphia, Pa./Central
PSAC East Player of the Year
Dave Ben Kutztown Sr. Coatesville, Pa./Coatesville
PSAC East Freshman of the Year
Tony Fannick Mansfield Fr. Milton, Pa./Milton
PSAC East Coach of the Year
Bernie Driscoll Kutztown
* Indicates previous All-PSAC first team selection
^ Indicates previous All-PSAC second team selection
2008-09 All-PSAC West Men’s Basketball Team
First Team
Gerald Brooks^^ IUP Jr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Schenley
Pierre Howard Gannon Sr. Chicago, Ill./Bloom
Joe Jones* Edinboro Sr. Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep
Joe Lindsey Gannon Sr. Spring Valley, N.Y./Spring Valley
Denell Stephens Slippery Rock Sr. Brooklyn, N.Y./Elkton
Darryl Webb^ IUP So. Elkridge, Md./Long Reach
Second Team
Jordan Armstrong Mercyhurst Jr. Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central
Billy Arre**^ Lock Haven Sr. Pittsburgh, Pa./Thomas Jefferson
Kyle Camper Slippery Rock Gr. Salisbury, Md./Wicomico
Brian McTear Mercyhurst Sr. Los Angeles, Calif./Crenshaw
Jerial Nixon California (Pa.) Jr. Lorain, Ohio/Lorain Admiral King
Josh Yanke Clarion Sr. North Canton, Ohio/Jackson
PSAC West Player of the Year
Denell Stephens Slippery Rock Sr. Brooklyn,N.Y./Elkton
PSAC West Freshman of the Year
Julian Sanders IUP Fr. Medford, N.J./Shawnee
PSAC West Coach of the Year
Kevin Reynolds Slippery Rock
* Indicates previous All-PSAC first team selection
^ Indicates previous All-PSAC second team selection