Pete Nevins honors/recognition  l  Grant, Martin season highlights

EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University sophomore guard Whis Grant has been named the Lehigh Valley Small College Basketball Organization's Pete Nevins Player of the Year for his performance for the Warriors' men's basketball team, it was announced Tuesday at a media luncheon in Bethlehem.

Grant (Plymouth Meeting/Plymouth Whitemarsh) is the second ESU player to be selected, joining Rich Baker in 2003-04, and the first sophomore to receive the men's award since Kutztown's Dave Ben in 2006-07.

Sophomore forward Jessica Martin (Brownstown/Conestoga Valley) was ESU's selection for the women's player of the year award, which went to Moravian sophomore Alexis Wright.

The Player of the Year award was renamed in honor of Pete Nevins, ESU's sports information director from 1969-2002 and the founder of the small college basketball organization, following his passing in 2007.

There were 12 players selected on the organization's “Team of the Year”, which recognizes a men's and women's player from each of the six area schools.

Joining Grant on the men's team were Delaware Valley's Jeremy Beckett, Kutztown's Micah Fraction, Muhlenberg's Malique Killing, DeSales' Brett Moyer and Moravian's D.J. Strayhorn.

Martin and Wright were joined on the women's team by DeSales' Sondrine Glovas, Delaware Valley's Emily Soper, Kutztown's Ashley Wood and Muhlenberg's Alita Zabrecky.

Grant is the top scorer for Warriors' men's team for the second straight season – averaging 17.9 points per game as ESU is 19-2 overall (16-1 PSAC) and ranked in the top 15 in Division II.

He is averaging 20.0 points per game during ESU's 13-game winning streak, the second-longest single-season streak in school history. He led the Warriors in scoring in nine straight games from January 11 through February 6, averaging 22.9 points including five 20-point games. He has eight 20-point games this season, including two stretches of three straight.

Grant led ESU with 13.9 points per game as a freshman on last year's PSAC championship team, the second in school history. He was the first freshman to lead a PSAC champion in scoring in at least 25 years. He went over 800 career points on Sunday vs. Kutztown and is averaging 15.5 points in 52 career games.

He is fifth in the PSAC in scoring, third in three-point percentage (41.0), sixth in three-pointers per game (2.4) and tied for sixth in steals per game (1.9) going into the final three weeks.

Martin leads the Warriors' women's team with 11.6 points per game, ranks fourth in the PSAC in blocked shots (2.2 per game) and fifth in rebounds (8.7 per game) with five games remaining in the regular season.

Last year's PSAC East Freshman of the Year and an All-PSAC East second team selection, Martin has raised her scoring and rebounding averages from last year while ranking in the top 20 in Division II in blocked shots for the second straight season. She led the PSAC and was ninth in the nation with 2.9 blocks per game last year, and already ranks second in school history with 123 in her career.

Martin has led the Warriors in rebounding in 15 of their 21 games, including seven double-figure games. She has five double-doubles this season and nine in her career, including 15 points and a season-high 15 rebounds at Kutztown on January 19. She scored a season-high 22 points and added 11 rebounds vs. Concordia (N.Y.) on November 25, and set ESU's single-game record with nine blocked shots against Shippensburg on January 26.

ESU is home for three of its last five regular season games, hosting Mansfield on Wednesday at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. The Warriors are at Shippensburg and Millersville before finishing with home games against West Chester on February 23 (1/3 p.m.) and Bloomsburg on February 27 (6/8 p.m.).


Previous Player of the Year recipients

Men
1997-98 – Brett Eppehimer (Lehigh)
1998-99 – Brian Ehlers (Lafayette)
1999-00 – Mark Watermasysk (DeSales)
2000-01 – Mark Lesko (Muhlenberg)
2001-02 – Mark Lesko (Muhlenberg)
2002-03 – Brandon Zaleski (Moravian)
2003-04 – Rich Baker (East Stroudsburg)
2004-05 – Jeff Stewart (Muhlenberg)
2005-06 – Bruce Hall (Kutztown)
2006-07 – Dave Ben (Kutztown)
2007-08 – Dave Ben (Kutztown)
2008-09 – Dave Ben (Kutztown)
2009-10 – Stephen Dennis (Kutztown)
2010-11 – Brian Hunter (DeSales)
2011-12 – Spencer Liddic (Muhlenberg)
2012-13 – Whis Grant (East Stroudsburg)

Women
1997-98 – Amy Wahl (Kutztown)
1998-99 – Amy Wahl (Kutztown)
1999-00 – Kate Corcoran (DeSales)
2000-01 – Alisa DiBonaventura (Delaware Valley)
2001-02 – Susan Marchiano (Muhlenberg)
2002-03 – Teri Antolick (DeSales)
2003-04 – Alyssa Antolick (DeSales)
2004-05 – Alyssa Antolick (DeSales)
2005-06 – Kelly Applegate (Moravian)
2006-07 – Alyssa Antolick (East Stroudsburg)
2007-08 – LeighAnn Burke (DeSales)
2008-09 – LeighAnn Burke (DeSales)
2009-10 – Kelly McKeon (Muhlenberg) and Kate Harrison (Moravian)
2010-11 – Melissa McQuade (Kutztown)
2011-12 – Alexandra Chili (Muhlenberg)
2012-13 – Alexis Wright (Moravian)