In today's player video interviews, we have an international flavor as we interview the two players on this year's squad who went to high school across the Atlantic.
Arni Lehto discusses basketball in his homeland of Finland, how this year's team compares to last year's team, and what the team's mentality is going into the postseason.
Patrick Gichuiri discusses basketball in his native Kenya, his favorite part of being on the MIT basketball team, and his thoughts on the team's strength going into the postseason.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Noel Hollingsworth Named NEWMAC Player of the Year; Kates Top Rookie
Sophomore Noel Hollingsworth was selected as the 2009-10 NEWMAC Player of the Year on Tuesday after guiding MIT to its first regular-season conference title in school history and a new single-season record for wins. Mitchell Kates earned additional hardware for the Engineers by being tabbed NEWMAC Rookie of the Year.
Hollingsworth, who was a four-time NEWMAC Player of the Week selection, paced the conference in scoring (20.5 ppg), rebounds (9.1), and field goal percentage (56.6%). He produced 13 double-doubles on the year, led the team in scoring in 16 games, and topped 30 points on five occasions. As MIT's second consecutive Player of the Year, Hollingsworth was also named to the All-Conference First Team.
Kates picked up Second Team All-Conference honors in addition to earning the program's third Rookie of the Year award in the last five years. Kates led the NEWMAC in assists (4.2) and steals (2.2) while leading the team in minutes played. Kates also ranked eighth in the league in scoring at 13.1 ppg.
First Team All-Conference: Noel Hollingsworth (MIT); Jeff Robinson (WPI); Mark Alexander (Clark); Matt Cavalieri (Springfield); Brian Vayda (Clark)
Second Team All-Conference: Mitchell Kates (MIT); Pat Crean (Springfield); Anthony Coppola (Wheaton); Brendan Degnan (Wheaton); Kyle Nadeau (WPI)
Official NEWMAC Release
Hollingsworth, who was a four-time NEWMAC Player of the Week selection, paced the conference in scoring (20.5 ppg), rebounds (9.1), and field goal percentage (56.6%). He produced 13 double-doubles on the year, led the team in scoring in 16 games, and topped 30 points on five occasions. As MIT's second consecutive Player of the Year, Hollingsworth was also named to the All-Conference First Team.
Kates picked up Second Team All-Conference honors in addition to earning the program's third Rookie of the Year award in the last five years. Kates led the NEWMAC in assists (4.2) and steals (2.2) while leading the team in minutes played. Kates also ranked eighth in the league in scoring at 13.1 ppg.
First Team All-Conference: Noel Hollingsworth (MIT); Jeff Robinson (WPI); Mark Alexander (Clark); Matt Cavalieri (Springfield); Brian Vayda (Clark)
Second Team All-Conference: Mitchell Kates (MIT); Pat Crean (Springfield); Anthony Coppola (Wheaton); Brendan Degnan (Wheaton); Kyle Nadeau (WPI)
Official NEWMAC Release
Statistically Speaking
This is how MIT stacks up statistically in the NEWMAC and against other NCAA DIII teams across the country. Stats are for games through 2/28/2010. Only statistics in which MIT is top 2 in the NEWMAC as a team and top 10 in individual categories are listed. Note that the NCAA does not rank all categories that the NEWMAC ranks.
Team Statistics
Team Statistics
| Statistic | Value | NEWMAC | NCAA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scoring Defense | 59.3 | 1 | 7 |
| Rebounding Margin | +7.2 | 1 | 16 |
| Scoring Margin | +11.3 | 1 | 24 |
| 3FGM | 7.42 | 1 | 65 |
| FG% | 46.0 | 1 | 99 |
| Assists | 14.27 | 1 | 109 |
| A/TO | 0.89 | 1 | |
| Rebounding Defense | 30.3 | 1 | |
| FG% Defense | 40.2 | 2 | 32 |
| Scoring Offense | 70.6 | 2 | 213 |
| 3FG% Defense | 32.3 | 2 |
Individual Statistics
| Player | Statistic | Value | NEWMAC | NCAA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noel Hollingsworth | Scoring | 20.5 | 1 | 34 |
| Rebounds | 9.1 | 1 | 61 | |
| FG% | 56.6 | 1 | 65 | |
| Blocks | 1.38 | 3 | 104 | |
| Mitchell Kates | Steals | 2.15 | 1 | 72 |
| Assists | 4.23 | 1 | 90 | |
| FG% | 49.4 | 6 | ||
| A/TO | 1.20 | 7 | 237 | |
| Scoring | 13.1 | 8 | ||
| FT% | 70.0 | 10 | ||
| Will Tashman | FG% | 55.1 | 2 | |
| Rebounds | 7.1 | 4 | 212 | |
| FT% | 70.4 | 9 | ||
| Blocks | 0.60 | 10 | ||
| Jimmy Burke | 3FGM | 2.36 | 1 | 107 |
| 3FG% | 40.4 | 5 | ||
| Billy Johnson | 3FGM | 1.69 | 6 | 345 |
| Billy Bender | Rebounds | 5.3 | 9 |
MIT falls to #21 in this week's D3hoops.com poll, after losing their only game of the week in the semifinals of the NEWMAC tournament this past weekend. This is MIT's lowest ranking since Week 4 of this season when they were also ranked #21. MIT has been ranked for 11 consecutive weeks and are now 22-4 overall and 21-3 in DIII.Full D3hoops.com Rankings Here
MIT faces DeSales in the first round of the NCAA Division III basketball tournament, to be played at William Paterson in New Jersey this Friday.
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