Camper, Pickett on 1st team
King makes third team; Siena women’s Young on the league second team
Siena senior guard/forward Manny Camper and junior guard Jalen Pickett were named to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference men’s basketball first team announced Monday morning.
It’s the second straight year for Camper on the first team and the third consecutive season for Pickett.
Camper is averaging 14.6 points, a Maac-leading 10 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. Pickett averages 12.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and a league-best 4.8 assists per contest despite being hampered by a hamstring injury suffered in the third game of the season.
Sophomore guard Jordan King, a former walk-on from CBA, was voted to the third team. He averages 12.5 points per game and leads the team with 30 3-pointers.
“Just so proud of them making all their all-conference honors,” Siena coach Carmen Maciariello said. “I think we’re in a good spot. All the stuff that happened, we overcame and we still won the league ... The fact that these guys can kind of put that in their back pocket and realize anything we can encounter, we’re going to be able to overcome.”
The top-seeded Siena men (12-4) open MAAC Tournament play in Atlantic City, N.J, with a quarterfinal at 5 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of Tuesday’s first-round game between No. 8 Quinnipiac (9-12) and No. 9 Iona (8-5).
King said he found out through a text from his mother.
“It feels good to see all the hard work that I put in in the offseason just paid off,” King said. “Just a lot of hard work in the offseason, listening to my coaches, learning from my teammates. Coach has really helped me out with showing film and just things I need to work on. So I took that from them and Coach Carm really showed me the things I need to work on and took it from him.”
“He’s a tireless worker and I knew ... that his work ethic would show to the other guys,” Maciariello added. “And Manny’s the same way. I think Jalen’s finally starting to get back in his groove a little bit getting confidence in his leg, so we’re peaking at the right time.”
Camper and Pickett were joined on the first team by Monmouth’s Deion Hammond, Saint Peter’s KC Ndefo, and Iona’s Isaiah Ross.
On the women’s side, Siena graduate guard Isis Young made the ALL-MAAC second team. She’s leading the MAAC in scoring at 18.9 points per game.
Young said she deserved to be on the first team. Instead, the MAAC coaches chose Quinnipiac’s Mackenzie Dewees and Mikala Morris, Saint Peter’s Taiah Thornton, Marist’s Willow Duffell and Fairfield’s Lou Lopez-senechal.
“I’m not a coach so I don’t have to say that coaches are fair,” Young said. “I expected to be on the first team. It’s fine. I’m not making it a big deal at all. It just adds fuel to the fire for me to let people know I’m one of the top five players in our conference. If I have a little extra pep in my step tomorrow, you’ll know why.”
The No. 9 Siena women (3-8) face No. 8 Niagara (4-6) in a first-round game at noon Tuesday.
The MAAC will announce its major award winners on Wednesday. Maciariello is a frontrunner for Coach of the Year, as is Camper for Player of the Year.