Schmidt Named All-Met Player of the Year; Cluess Named Coach of the Year
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (April 10, 2009) - Jonathan Schmidt (Centereach, N.Y.) was named the 2008-09 All-Met Division II men's college basketball player of the year for the second straight season Friday by the National Invitation Tournament and the Met Basketball Writers Association.
Tim Cluess of C.W. Post was selected coach of the year for a second consecutive season, and Nick Carter (Huntington Station, N.Y.) was named to the first team.
Joining Schmidt and Carter on the All-Met first team: Richard Byrd, Adelphi, Omari Knox, Bloomfield; Manny Perez, Caldwell; David Seagers, Dowling.
Named to the second team: Gage Daye, Bloomfield; Bryant Lassiter, NYIT; Devon Young, Felician; Akeem Comas, St. Thomas Aquinas; Stedford McLeod, Nyack..
A senior guard from Centereach, N.Y., Schmidt led the Pioneers and the East Coast Conference with 19.0 ppg and 5.96 apg, while pulling down 4.9 rpg. A four-year starter and two-time ECC Player of the Year, Schmidt also earned Daktronics All-Region First Team honors, along with Basketball Times and Division II Bulletin All-America accolades. He closed his career at C.W. Post with a school record 1,980 points.
Carter earned ECC All-Conference first team accolades and NABC All-District Second team, averaging 17.8 points per game, good for second on the team and third in the conference. He also finished first on the team and third in the ECC, along with 56th nationally in free throw percentage, hitting .826 percent of his shots (107-129).
In his third year at the helm, Cluess guided the Pioneers to an undefeated regular season and 30-1 record overall. The East Coast Conference Coach of the Year led the Pioneers to an ECC Regular season and Championship Title, and the team's first NCAA East Region Championship, garnering the Pioneers an appearance in the Elite Eight. Cluess was also named the Basketball Times Division II Co-Coach of the Year.
The All-Met awards will be presented Wednesday evening, April 15, at Giants Stadium Club in East Rutherford, N.J.