Williams Receives Top Regional Honors From D3hoops.com
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College senior Blake Schultz (Atherton, Calif.) has been chosen as the
Northeast Region's Player of the year while Ephs' head coach Mike Maker was tabbed Coach of the Year Tuesday by D3hoops.com.Sophomore James Wang (Sydney, Australia) joined Schultz as a member of the All-Northeast Region First Team.
Schultz and Wang were also selected as First Team All-NESCAC members. Maker was named the NESCAC Coach of the Year in just his second year at Williams.
The Ephs, currently ranked No. 2 in the country and 29-1 overall, face Guilford (30-2) in the NCAA Div. III Tournament semifinals Friday at 5 p.m. in a game to played at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va.
The Ephs’ top scorer for the second year in a row, Schultz currently leads the Ephs with an average of 19 points per game heading into this weekend’s NCAA Tournament action. The two-time All-NESCAC First Team selection has been the high scorer in 15 out of 30 games this season for Williams.
Schultz is a threat to score from anywhere on the floor but has been especially deadly from long range, hitting a conference-best 52.2 percent of his three-point attempts and draining 70 treys. Overall, Schultz has hit 52.6 percent of his shots and 85.5 percent of his free throw attempts .Schultz was named the 2010 winner of the Jostens Trophy, given annually to the top Division III player in the nation based on basketball ability, academic ability, and community service. Earlier this season, Schultz became the 28th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
Starting all 30 games, Wang is second for Williams in scoring with 17.3 points per game while leading the team with 136 assists. Like Schultz, Wang is a prolific shooter, converting 55.8 percent of his attempts from the floor, 50.8 percent from three-point range, and 85.5 percent from the foul line.
In only his second season with the Ephs, Maker has guided his team to an impressive 29-1 record en route to this year’s NESCAC Men’s Basketball title - the program’s first since 2007 – and a berth in the national semifinals. He currently has an .822 (46-10) winning percentage at Williams.
