ROCK HILL, SC--Winthrop senior forward Mantoris Robinson has been voted the 2009-10 Big South Conference Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season by the league's head coaches and media representatives. The Charlotte native was also selected to the Big South's Second Team All-Conference squad.
Robinson will lead Winthrop the Eagles against visiting Liberty on Tuesday night in the quarter finals of the Big South. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. Tickets for the Tuesday night game are on sale now at the Winthrop box office. Tickets are priced at $5 for all students, $8 for sideline reserved seats and $6 for end zone seats.
Robinson is the Conference's first two-time Defensive Player of the Year recipient. He helped the Eagles lead the Big South with a 59.5 scoring defense average in Conference games, as well as rank second in League contests in field goal defense (39.0) and three-point defense (28.7). He ranks fifth in the Big South this season in steals per game (1.9) and 13th in rebounds per game (6.2). Robinson has drawn the opponent's best scorer as his primary defensive assignment in nearly every game with notable performances against Charlotte's Shamari Spears (eight points), Cincinnati's heralded Lance Stephenson (six points), Charleston Southern's Jamarco Warren (six points), VMI's Keith Gabriel (six points), and Coastal Carolina's Joseph Harris (10 points). Earlier this season he eclipsed 100 career steals and currently totals 139 in his career, and along with 572 rebounds, is just the third player in Winthrop history to have more than 100 steals and 500 rebounds. He has also blocked 23 shots this year and has 91 for his career to rank eighth in school history. Robinson received 15 first-place votes and 25 total points, ahead of Charleston Southern's Kelvin Martin (six first-place votes and 16 points).
Radford senior center Artsiom Parakhouski and Coastal Carolina head coach Cliff Ellis have been voted the conference Player of the Year and Coach of the Year, respectively. The voting panel also chose Charleston Southern guard Jeremy Sexton Freshman of the Year Radford senior forward Phillip Martin was voted Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the League's Sports Information Directors.
Parakhouski (Minsk, Belarus) repeats as Big South Player of the Year, becoming the fifth two-time honoree in League history. He led the Big South during the regular-season in scoring average (21.6), rebounding average (13.2) and field goal percentage (58.3 percent), and is on his way to becoming just the second player in Conference annals to lead the League in all three categories in the same season. He is second nationally in rebounds as well as in the Top 10 in field goal percentage, while leading the country with a stellar 24 double-doubles in 29 appearances.
Joining Parakhouski on the All-Conference First-team are Coastal Carolina's Joseph Harris and Chad Gray, High Point's Nick Barbour, and Charleston Southern's Jamarco Warren. The entire 2009-10 All-Conference team is as follows:
2009-10 MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CONFERENCE
First-Team All-Conference
Artsiom Parakhouski, C, Sr., Radford
Joseph Harris, F, R-Sr., Coastal Carolina
Nick Barbour, G, Soph., High Point
Chad Gray, F, R-Jr., Coastal Carolina
Jamarco Warren, G, Jr., Charleston Southern
Second-Team All-Conference
Joey Lynch-Flohr, F, Sr., Radford
Austin Kenon, G, Jr., VMI
Kyle Ohman, G/F, Sr., Liberty
Mantoris Robinson, G/F, R-Sr., Winthrop
John Williams, F, R-Jr., UNC Asheville
All-Freshman Team
Jeremy Sexton, G, Charleston Southern
Stan Okoye, F, VMI
Evan Gordon, G, Liberty
Kierre Greenwood, G, Coastal Carolina
Blake Smith, G, Radford
All-Academic Team
Logan Johnson, R-Sr., Coastal Carolina
Auryn MacMillan, Sr., Gardner-Webb
Dave Campbell, Jr., High Point
Jeremy Anderson, R-Soph., Liberty
Walt Allen, R-Jr., Presbyterian College
Phillip Martin, Sr., Radford
Adam Lonon, Sr., VMI
Player of the Year
Artsiom Parakhouski, C, Sr., Radford
Freshman of the Year
Jeremy Sexton, G, Charleston Southern
Defensive Player of the Year
Mantoris Robinson, G/F, R-Sr., Winthrop
Coach of the Year
Cliff Ellis, Coastal Carolina
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Phillip Martin, Sr., Radford
