On Friday, April 9, nearly 50 people connected with the MIT men's basketball community joined together at the MIT Faculty Club to celebrate the past season. The annual banquet featured speaker Dana Mead, who is the current chairman of the Institute's board of trustees, and concluded with the presentation of team awards and announcement of next year's captains.
Director of Athletics Julie Soriero opened and closed the evening, while Mead Wyman '62, captain Billy Johnson, and assistant coach Indran Ratnathicam '98 also provided remarks. Wyman delivered an insightful speech with an alumni perspective and Ratnathicam, who was also a former player under head coach Larry Anderson, focused his talking points on leadership.
Following dinner and Mead's thoughtful oration, Anderson provided some reflections on the year's success before being joined by coaches Kevin Byrne and Brian Phillips for the distribution of the yearly hardware. As voted by the student-athletes on the basketball team, sophomore standout Noel Holingsworth was named Team MVP. Mitchell Kates was unanimously selected as Rookie of the Year; fellow rookie Will Tashman was cited as Most Improved; and junior Eric Zuk was tabbed with the Jack Barry Leadership Award.
Bob Ferrara '67, who has served as the cornerstone for the program's alumni efforts, provided announcements to the group throughout the evening and played an active role in organizing the event. As the evening neared its conclusion, Anderson left everyone with a sense of excitement about the program's bright future and announced the captains for the 2010-11 season as selected by the team: Eric Zuk and Mitchell Kates.
