Hyland Named Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, Schmidt, Osunniyi Earn Top Honors

Stacy Podelski

5 years ago

VCU sophomore guard Nah’Shon “Bones” Hyland was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year while St. Bonaventure’s junior forward Osun Osunniyi was named Defensive Player of the Year. Bonnies bench boss Mark Schmidt was voted A-10 Coach of the Year. The league announced its awards Wednesday in advance of the 2021 Men’s Basketball Championship final between No. 1 St. Bonaventure and No. 2 VCU, which will be played Sunday at the University of Dayton Arena on CBS Sports.

George Mason freshman guard Tyler Kolek was selected as A-10 Rookie of the Year, and Richmond sophomore forward Tyler Burton was selected as the Chris Daniels Most Improved Player. La Salle sophomore guard Sherif Kenney was selected as the Sixth Man of the Year.

The major awards, the three six-member All-Conference teams, All-Defensive and All-Rookie teams were all nominated and voted on by the conference’s 14 head coaches. The basketball communications directors select the five-member All-Academic team.

Hyland led the league in scoring with 19.4 points and helped spark a VCU team that was picked ninth in the preseason to a second-place finish in the Atlantic 10. He leads the league in field goals made (148) and attempted (329) and 3-pointers made per game (2.91). He scored 30 or more points three times this season and broke the 20-point plateau 11 times. He was also named to the All-Conference First Team.

Schmidt led the Bonnies to their first-ever outright A-10 regular season title. Under his leadership, St. Bonaventure has the seventh stingiest defense in the nation, limiting opponents to just over 60 points per game, leading to a 15-4 overall record and an 11-4 mark in A-10 play.

Osunniyi ranks ninth nationally and lead the Atlantic 10 with 2.84 blocks per game. He’s also second in the league in both rebounding (9.3 rebounds per game) and defensive rebounding (6.8 per game) and sixth in the A-10 in double-doubles (4). He was also named to the All-Conference Second Team and the All-Defensive Team.

Kolek averaged 10.8 points per game for the Patriots, helping generate a late-season winning streak that helped Mason finish sixth. He was second in the Atlantic 10 in 3-pointers attempted (148) and fourth in three made (53). He also ranked 10th in steals (28) in the league. He was also selected for the All-Rookie Team.

Burton nearly tripled his points per game, registering 12.1 in 2020-21 over 4.6 per game last season. He also increased his production on the glass, pulling down 7.7 rebounds per game, and increase of 3.8 boards per game, and he registered seven more steals in nine fewer games.

Kenney ranked second in scoring for the Explorers coming off the bench in the majority of games. He averaged 9.6 points per game. He was also second on the team in assists with 41, and he recorded 25 steals for the season in 24 games with only 10 starts.

Joining Hyland on the All-Conference First Team were Kellan Grady (Davidson), Jalen Crutcher (Dayton), Tre Mitchell (Massachusetts), Kyle Lofton (St. Bonaventure) and Jordan Goodwin (Saint Louis). The All-Conference second team consisted of Marcus Weathers (Duquesne), Blake Francis (Richmond), Jacob Gilyard (Richmond), Jaren Holmes (St. Bonaventure), Javonte Perkins (Saint Louis) and Osunniyi. Ibi Watson (Dayton), Jordan Miller (George Mason), Jamison Battle (George Washington), Fatts Russell (Rhode Island), Grant Golden (Richmond) and Vince Williams (VCU) made up the All-Conference Third Team.

Jordy Tshimanga (Dayton), Christian Ray (La Salle), Gibson Jimerson (Saint Louis), Mitchell and Holmes were named to the All-Academic team.

Gilyard, Osunniyi, Goodwin were all voted to the All-Defensive team along with AJ Wilson (George Mason) and Hason Ward (VCU).

Mustapha Amzil (Dayton), Jhamir Brickus (La Salle), Jordan Hall (Saint Joseph’s) and Adrian Baldwin, Jr. (VCU) joined Kolek on All-Rookie team.

For more information on the A-10 Conference fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here:

https://atlantic10.com/

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