March 5, 2003

2003 Patriot League Men's Basketball All-League Release
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Holy Cross senior center Patrick Whearty (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.), in his first year as a starter for the two-time defending champion Crusaders, was named 2003 Patriot League Men's Basketball Player of the Year in a vote of the League's head coaches.

Whearty, one of three Holy Cross players named to the 2003 All-League team, is the third Crusader to be named PL Men's Basketball Player of the Year in the 13-year history of the League. Classmate Tim Szatko (2001) and Rob Feaster (1995) were previous Player of the Year awardwinners from Holy Cross.

Teammates joining Whearty on the All-League squad is first-team junior point guard Jave Meade (Long Island City, N.Y.) and second-team senior guard Brian Wilson (Plainfield, N.J.). They combined to lead the Crusaders to a 23-4 overall record, 13-1 in League play. Whearty (1999) and Meade (2001) previously earned All-Rookie team recognition by the PL coaches.

Holy Cross won the 2003 regular-season title and will be the top seed in the PL Tournament, which begins Saturday (March 8) at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, Md. HC will square off against eighth-seeded Army at noon in the opening round.

Joining Whearty and Meade on the first-team All-League squad are seniors Steven Miles (Alexandria, Va.) of American, Boakai Lalugba (East Orange, N.J.) of Bucknell and Zlatko Savovic (Everett, Wash.) of Lehigh. Lalugba is making his second-straight appearance on the first-team all-star squad while Miles and Savovic join Whearty and Meade as first-time All-League honorees.

Making return appearances on the second-team all-star squad are senior guards Glenn Stokes (Silver Spring, Md.) of American and Matt Logie (Mercer Island, Wash.) of Lehigh. Stokes was a second-team all-star last year while Logie is making his third-straight second-team All-League appearance after gaining All-Rookie honors in 2000.

Wilson, Stokes and Logie were joined on the PL second team by junior guards Mark Linebaugh (Cleona, Pa.) of Colgate and Justin DeBerry (Tucson, Ariz.) of Lafayette. Linebaugh was the 2001 PL Rookie of the Year while DeBerry earned a PL post-season nod for the first time in his career.

Guard Kevin Bettencourt (Peabody, Mass.), who broke the League record for Rookie of the Week awards this season with nine, was no surprise as the coaches choice as the 2003 PL Rookie of the Year. Bettencourt, the third BU player to earn the Rookie of the Year award in PL history, equaled the total number of Rookie of the Week awards Bucknell players had earned in the first 12 years of the Patriot League. Former BU players to be named Rookie of the Year are Gordon Mboya (1994) and Dan Bowen (1997).

Also earning a berth on the 2003 All-Rookie team with Bettencourt are American sophomore forward Raimondas Petrauskas (Mazeikiai, Lithuania) and freshmen guards Alvin Reed (San Bernardino, Calif.) of Colgate, Mitch Gilfillan (Morton, Ill.) of Lehigh and David Hooper (Dale City, Va.) of Navy.

The other easy post-season choice was in the Coach of the Year category, where Lehigh's first-year mentor Billy Taylor got the nod. Taylor took over a Mountain Hawk squad dominated by seniors that compiled a 5-23 overall record in 2002 and transformed the group into a 16-11 team this season that was in second place in the League heading into the final weekend of the season.

Taylor, the first LU boss to be named PL Coach of the Year, broke the team record for most wins by a rookie coach and led Lehigh to its highest win total since the 1991 campaign and fourth-highest win total in team history. The Mountain Hawks finished fourth in the regular-season standings.

Whearty, Meade and Wilson are part of a veteran Crusader squad that ranks sixth among the NCAA leaders in scoring defense, allowing just 58.1 points per outing. HC enters the 2003 PL Tournament as the No. 1 seed and looking for its third-straight title and NCAA Tournament berth.

Whearty topped the Crusaders in scoring (12.1), rebounding (6.6), field goal percentage (56.2) and blocked shots (38). He enters the PL Tournament ranked eighth in PL history in career rebounds (660) and blocked shots (127). He also finished the regular-season by becoming the 42nd player in League history to reach the 1,000-point plateau (1,011).

Meade is the quarterback of the HC offense and led the PL in assists (169) and steals (55) for the second-straight season. He also contributes 11.1 points per game, 3.9 rebounds and is third on the team with 20 three-point goals. In just 89 games over three seasons, Meade has climbed to sixth place on both the PL career assists (420) and steals (176) charts.

Wilson ranks second on the HC scoring charts with an 11.9 average and tops the team with 46 three-point goals and a .442 long-distance shooting percentage. He currently ranks 35th on the PL career scoring chart (1,036) and 23rd in three-point goals (131).

Lalugba, the only returnee to the first-team All-League squad, led the PL and ranks 21st nationally with 9.7 rebounds per game. He also topped the Bison in scoring (15.1), blocked shots (27), steals (41), field goal percentage (.497), double-doubles (16) and was second in assists (60). He is among the NCAA leaders in double-doubles this season.

He had the second-highest single-game scoring performance of the season with a 34-point outing at George Washington, and twice pulled down 16 rebounds in a game, the highest PL total this season. On the last weekend of the regular-season, Lalugba became the 21st player in PL history to score 1,300 career points (1,305) and moved into fifth place on the career rebounding list (717).

Lalugba's first-team All-League appearance marks the 20th-consecutive year a BU player earned first-team all-star recognition, which is believed to be the longest streak in college basketball. He also joins Army's Mark Lueking (1995-96) as the only players in PL history to earn All-Tournament recognition twice in their careers without ever playing in the League Championship game.

Lalugba's inside game benefitted from the addition of Bettencourt to the lineup. The rookie sharpshooter was the only rookie among the top 30 scorers in the League this season and finished second on the team with a 10.9 average He nailed a team-best 58 bombs, which was the fifth-highest total in the PL.

They also keyed BU's stingy defense, which surrenders just 58.7 points per game and ranks fourth in the country.

Miles teamed with Stokes to provide second-place American with the best long-range shooting duo in the League. Miles leads the PL in scoring (16.4) and three-point goals (80) while Stokes is fifth in the PL scoring race with a 15.1 average and second in threes with 74. In just 56 games, Miles moved into the PL Top 20 list for career bombs (134) while Stokes has contributed 115 treys.

Petrauskas was one of AU's top reserves this season, contributing 2.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and strong defense, evidenced by his team-leading 16 blocked shots. AU ranks 21st among the national leaders in team defense, allowing just 62.0 points per game.

Savovic rounds out the first-team All-League squad and paired with Logie, Gilfillan and Taylor to re-energize the Mountain Hawks' program. The senior point guard ranked second on the team with a 14.6 scoring average and 30 three-pointers but topped LU with 111 assists and 40 steals. Savovic also Lehigh's third-best rebounder with a 4.1 average, including 111 defensive caroms. He enters the PL Tournament five assists shy of becoming the 18th player in League history to dish out 300 helpers.

Logie has been steady for the Mountain Hawks for three seasons. In addition to leading the team in scoring (15.3), he was the team's top three-point shooter (55) and ranks second nationally in free throw percentage (94.8). He enters the PL Tournament as the highest active player on the PL career scoring leaders list with 1,504 points (11th place) and 263 three-point goals (4th place).

Gilfillan was a sparkplug off the bench for the Mountain Hawks, averaging 4.3 points in 27 games. Most of the 5-11 point guard's scores came from outside the arc as he finished third on the team with 27 threes while hitting at a .519 clip from long range.

After battling early-season injuries, Linebaugh came on strong during League play and guided the Raiders to a tie with AU for second place in the final regular-season standings. His 15.6-point scoring average in 14 PL games was almost three points-per-game higher than his overall total for the 27-game season. Linebaugh still finished with team highs of 12.8 points, 43 three-point goals, 79.4 free throw percentage and shared the team lead with 33 steals. Linebaugh is three points shy of becoming the 43rd player in Patriot League history to reach the 1,000-point mark. He also boasts 117 three-point goals in 81 career games.

Reed followed in Linebaugh's footsteps by earning All-Rookie honors after contributing 5.3 points and finishing among the team leaders with 24 long-range shots, 54 assists and 23 steals.

DeBerry stepped up to the leadership role for Lafayette this season and became the primary focus for opposing defenses. He enters the PL Tournament with a 16.3 scoring average, with is just three total points behind Miles for the League scoring race. DeBerry is also among the PL leaders in three-point goals (65), free throw percentage (.837), assists (75) and steals (43). In just three seasons, DeBerry has scored 930 points and ranks 16th on the PL career list for three-point goals (149).

Hooper rounds out the 2003 PL All-Rookie team. The 6-5 freshman reserve guard is a sizable physical presence on Navy's defensive unit. He has also contributed 5.6 points offensively, including 23 three-point goals, which ranks second on the team.

2003 Patriot League Men's Basketball Postseason Awards
Name, School Yr. Pos. Ht. Hometown/Last School Previous Honors
All-League First-Team
Steven Miles, American Sr. G 6-2 Alexandria, Va./Hayfield
Boakai Lalugba, Bucknell Sr. F 6-6 East Orange, N.J./Bishop Essex 1st '02
Jave Meade, Holy Cross Jr. G 6-1 Long Island City, N.Y./Christ The King R '01
Patrick Whearty, Holy Cross Sr. C 6-9 Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Our Lady of Lourdes R '99
Zlatko Savovic, Lehigh Sr. G 6-3 Everett, Wash./Everett

All-League Second-Team
Glenn Stokes, American Sr. G 5-9 Silver Spring, Md./Albert Einstein 2nd '02
Mark Linebaugh, Colgate Jr. G 6-2 Cleona, Pa./Annville-Cleona ROY '01, R '01
Brian Wilson, Holy Cross Sr. G 6-2 Plainfield, N.J./St. Joseph's R '00
Justin DeBerry, Lafayette Jr. G 6-3 Tucson, Ariz./New Hampton
Matt Logie, Lehigh Sr. G 6-5 Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island R '00, 2nd '01, 2nd '02

All-Rookie Team
Raimondas Petrauskas, American So. F 6-7 Mazeikiai, Lithuania/Lithuanian Physical Culture Academy
Kevin Bettencourt, Bucknell Fr. G 6-2 Peabody, Mass./Peabody
Alvin Reed, Colgate Fr. G 6-1 San Bernardino, Calif./Lawrence Academy
Mitch Gilfillan, Lehigh Fr. G 5-11 Morton, Ill./Peoria Notre Dame
David Hooper, Navy Fr. G 6-5 Dale City, Va./Gar-Field

Player of the Year: Patrick Whearty, Holy Cross
Rookie of the Year: Kevin Bettencourt, Bucknell
Coach of the Year: Billy Taylor, Lehigh (first time)