With the Hofstra University Men’s Basketball team earning their third Colonial Athletic Association Regular Season Championship, several members of the team were honored by the conference with Postseason Awards.

Starting with Head Coach Speedy Claxton, who continues to impress those in the College ranks with his ability to lead the Student-Athletes on the court. Claxton, thanks to his amazing leadership ability has been named Colonial Athletic Association Coach of the Year.

In addition, the Hofstra University Men’s Basketball team Senior Guard Aaron Estrada has been named CAA Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

The Colonial Athletic Association also honored Senior Guard Tyler Thomas by naming him to the All-CAA Second Team and Sophomore Guard Jaquan Carlos earning the CAA All-Defensive Team award.

Claxton, who has been able to connect with the student-athletes at Hofstra University, passing along the keys as to how to be successful basketball players at the Collegiate level, becomes the second-ever CAA Coach of the Year honoree after Joe Mihalich won the award in 2019. The last Hofstra Coach to earn the Coach of the Year award was Jay Wright in 2000 and 2001, when he was in the America East Conference.

Thus far under Claxton’s leadership, he has been able to see the Pride get to 23 wins so far this year. Claxton along with the Hofstra University Men’s Basketball team goes into the CAA Tournament as the top seed thanks to their fine play this season.
Claxton has been able to accumulate a .698 winning percentage through 63 career games, and that ranks as second-best, known winning percentage among head coaches in program history, only surpassed by Paul Lynner.

Claxton is only two second year coaches to win at least 20 games (the other being Arizon’as Tommy Lloyd). In addition Speedy is the second Hofstra Head Coach to win at least 20 games in the first two years at the helm, joining Lynner (1962-63 and 1963-64).

Among the accomplishments thus far Claxton has been able to lead Hofstra to victories over ranked opponents in #24 Arkansas during the 2021-22 seasons, and after that defeating #18 Charleston on January 28.

Estrada, meanwhile, has been one of the stars for the Hofstra University Men’s Basketball team. The Senior Guard joins some elite ranks when it comes time for winning the CAAA Player of the Year honors, as he is the third to win the award in consecutive seasons. In addition, he is also the fourth player in Hofstra University honoree since 2018 (Justin Wright-Foreman in 2018 and 2019) and the program’s eighth since joining the league in 2002 (Juan’ya Green – 2016, Charles Jenkins – 2010 and 2011, and Loren Stokes – 2007).

Entering into the CAA Championship, Estrada has averaged 20.3 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per outing. Thus far the Senior Guard ranks second in the league in scoring, 18th in rebounding, third in field goal percentage, sixth in assists, fourth in free throw percentage 12th in steals, seventh in three-point field goals made, seventh in assist/turnover ratio, and sixth in defensive rebounds.

Estrada has been named to the CAA Player of the Week three times, while also having a total of eight weekly honored from around the nation during the season. Aaron is going to be a player to watch for in the CAA Conference Championship, as he is ranked 30th in program history in points with 1,141.

Tyler Thomas, who is in his first season in a Hofstra uniform, has been able to garner a spot on the second team thanks to his spectacular play. Thomas is second on the team in scoring at 16.2 points-per-contest, while averaging 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. Thus far Tyler has been shooting a 49% from the field overall, while also having a 41% from three-point range. Thomas was named CAA And Met Basketball Player of the Week on February 6 and 7, respectively.

Jaquan Carlos has been named to his first postseason honor after a strong regular season. Carlos is known as one of the top defenders in the conference, while ranking seventh in the league in steals 1.5 per game. Thus far the overall play of Carlos has been able to help the Pride, as he has been able to average 6.0 points, a team -high 4.9 assists and 3.7 rebounds per outing.

Up next Hofstra will start the quest to win the CAA Championship on Sunday, as they will take on the winner of the William & Mary/Elon game that is happening at 12:00 p.m.

For more information on the Hofstra University Athletics Department fans are encouraged to click on the link seen here:

Hofstra University Athletics – Official Athletics Website (gohofstra.com)