NABC Release
Staten Island, NY – Wagner head men's basketball coach
Bashir Mason has been named the District 15 Coach of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), the organization announced on Tuesday. Additionally, graduate students
Alex Morales and
Elijah Ford were voted to the District 15 First Team.
This marks the second time that Mason earned the award, as his peers also voted him as the District 15 Coach of the Year following the 2017-18 season.
Mason led the Seahawks to a 21-6 overall record and an appearance in the NEC title game. This marks the third time under Mason and ninth time in program history that Wagner has won 20 or more games in one season.
Wagner's 15 conference wins matched the most in program history. The Seahawks went 15-5 in 2001-02, along with 15-3 in 2007-08 and 2011-12.
Earlier this season, Wagner's 14 consecutive wins set the record for the longest winning streak for a Seahawk team under Mason and was the longest winning streak for a Wagner squad since winning 16 straight during the 1978-79 season under P.J. Carlesimo.
Wagner's 13-0 start in NEC play fell two short of the NEC standard set by UMBC, which won 15 in a row in 1998-99 before dropping two of its last three games to settle for a 17-3 record.
The last conference school to rattle off 13 straight NEC wins was LIU. The Sharks won 13 in a row in 2010-11, a stretch that included three NEC Tournament wins.
Morales became the fourth player in Northeast Conference (NEC) history to repeat as NEC Player of the Year while also earning Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-NEC honors.
In Wagner's quarterfinal win over Saint Francis U, Morales recorded 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, recording the 12
th triple-double in the NEC since 1997.
The last known triple-double in NEC Tournament action dates back to 1983, when LIU's Carey Scurry recorded 12 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocks in the ECAC quarterfinals on March 9, 1983.
Three nights later, the reigning NEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year became the 13th player in NEC history to compile 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 assists while leading Wagner with 19 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Morales joins LIU's Carey Scurry (1983-84 and 1984-85), Marist's Rik Smits (1986-87 and 1987-88) and LIU's Charles Jones (1996-97 and 1997-98) as the only players to win NEC Player of the Year twice while becoming the first Wagner player ever to achieve the feat. Last season, Morales became Wagner's third-ever player to win the award, joining NEC Hall of Famers Terrance Bailey (1985-86) and Jermaine Hall (2002-03).
Additionally, Morales and CCSU's Rick Mickens (1999-00) are the only two NEC Players to win NEC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. The Seahawks have won more NEC Defensive Player of the Year awards than any other school in the history of the league, as Morales joins Kenneth Ortiz (3x winner in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14), DeEarnest McLemore (2004-05), Nigel Wyatte (2003-04) and Courtney Pritchard (2001-02) as winners of this award.
Despite missing the final six regular season games and the postseason due to injury, Ford earned a spot on the All-NEC Third Team after being a first team selection a year ago. The dynamic playmaker ranked 19
th in the NEC in scoring at 11.8 points per game and fifth in the circuit in field goal percentage (55%) during the regular season. Ford scored in double digits in 12 of his 18 games while grabbing eight or more rebounds five times throughout his shortened season.
LIU's Ty Flowers and Bryant's Peter Kiss and Charles Pride round out the NABC District 15 First Team.
The second team is comprised of Norfolk State's Joe Bryant Jr., Howard's Kyle Foster, Howard's Elijah Hawkins, Merrimack's Jordan Minor, and LIU's Eral Penn.
