I was asked recently to write a post for another site about the Top 10 players in the NEC. That got me to thinking, “Who will be the Top 10 players next season?” A lot of talent returns in the conference, so it’s pretty easy to just use the top players from last season, but are there others people should be looking out for? What I really want though is the community’s opinion. Who do you think are the Top 10 players in the NEC for the 2012-13 season? Why?
John’s First Guess Top 10:
1. Julian Boyd, LIU Brooklyn – Last season’s NEC POY. Gets the title till someone else wins the award.
2. Velton Jones, Robert Morris
3. Jamal Olasewere, LIU Brooklyn
4. Shane Gibson, Sacred Heart
5. Ike Azotam, Quinnipiac
6. Jalen Cannon, Saint Francis (NY)
7. Latif Rivers, Wagner
8. Kyle Vinales, Central Connecticut
9. Jason Brickman, LIU Brooklyn
10. Kelvin Parker, Mount St. Mary’s
Others of Note: Ousmane Drame, Quinnipiac; Lucky Jones, Robert Morris; Dion Nesmith, Monmouth
Ryan’s First Guess Top 10
1. Shane Gibson, Sacred Heart – Really, Gibson & Boyd are 1 and 1a, but I felt Gibson deserved NEC POY last season.
2. Julian Boyd, LIU Brooklyn
3. Ike Azotam, Quinnipiac
4. Jamal Olasewere, LIU Brooklyn
5. Velton Jones, Robert Morris
6. Jason Brickman, LIU Brooklyn
7. Latif Rivers, Wagner
8. Jonathan Williams, Wagner
9. Kyle Vinales, Central Connecticut
10. Lucky Jones, Robert Morris
Others of Note: Jalen Cannon, St. Francis (NY); Julian Norfleet, Mount St. Mary’s; Akeem Johnson, St. Francis (NY); Alex Francis, Bryant; Jeese Steele, Monmouth
Here’s one other opinion using John Pudner’s Value Add system. Some of the results are a little wacky in my opinion, but it’s interesting for debate.
Value Add Top 10:
1. Ike Azotam, Quinnipiac
2. Shane Gibson, Sacred Heart
3. Jalen Cannon, St. Francis (NY)
4. Julian Boyd, LIU Brooklyn
5. Jamal Olasewere, LIU Brooklyn
6. Velton Jones, Robert Morris
7. Kyle Vinales, Central Connecticut
8. Kelvin Parker, Mount St. Mary’s
9. Lucky Jones, Robert Morris
10. Latif Rivers, Wagner
Others of Note (In Top 200 Low Major Players): Coron Williams, Robert Morris; Ousmane Drame, Quinnipiac; Zaid Hearst, Quinnipiac; Jonathan Williams, Wagner; Jason Brickman, LIU Brooklyn
Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments.
NYC Buckets Archive 
Here are my NEC top 10:
1. Julian Boyd – LIU Brooklyn – Reigning POY. 14 doubles-doubles last season.
2. Shane Gibson – Sacred Heart – Best shooter in the NEC.
3. Velton Jones – Robert Morris – Most clutch player in the NEC.
4. Jamal Olasewere – LIU Brooklyn – Avg. 19 & 8 in NEC play last season
5. Ike Azotam – Quinnipiac – 13 dbls-dbls. Avg 16 & 8 in NEC play last season
6. Latif Rivers – Wagner – 14.6 ppg last season. Wagner’s best player.
7. Jason Brickman – LIU Brooklyn – 9.6ppg/7.4apg – NEC’s best PG
8. Kyle Vinales – Central Connecticut – Reigning ROY. Tremendous scorer.
9. Jonathon Williams – Wagner – 13.4ppg last season. Could play multiple positions.
10. Alex Francis – Bryant – 17 & 7 last season. Would be POY candidate if played on better team.
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Can’t leave Jesse steels out. Kelvin parker isn’t even the top player on msm!
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None of the lists so far shows any mention of Ben Mockford of St. Francis (NY) — not even as an also-ran. This guy represented Great Britain on his country’s U-23 team and started one of GB’s summer tune-up games at the 2-guard spot vs Lithuania. That he’s not even being considered in this conversation shows the depth of the returning talent in the NEC for this coming season. Looking forward to it already and it’s only July!!
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Mount St Mary is rebuilding so sit back and watch how well this team does under the new leadership!!
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Kelvin Parker IS the best player on MSM. Last season he was not a main part of the offense & still managed 2 be a top scorer on the team. With the new coach & his run & gun mentality, which fits KP’s game, expect 2 see him flourish even more & be in the running for POY in the NEC.
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I’m a big fan of Kelvin Parker and thought he should have been part of the All-NEC Rookie team, but to say that he’ll be in consideration for the NEC POY this season is silly, in my opionion. I love Parker’s athleticism and think he’ll fit in well with Jamion Christian’s up-tempo offense, but he was too inconsistent for me last season to expect a jump into the NEC elite. A nice improvement for his sophomore year is to be expected, but I’d temper your expectations on Parker. He does have breakout potential, but I’m focusing more on Julian Norfleet. I’m expecting a big time season out of him.
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I think my expectations are far from silly. I’ll admit I am a lil biased. I watched KP play since he was in middle school. But that is why my expectations are so high, because I know an uptempo offense fits him perfect. & as far as him being inconsistent, it did seem that way last season at times but how many freshmen arent? & its hard 2 do a lot when by design of the offense, he was sitting in the corner all game & rarely got plays called for him. Mark my words Rpeters, KP will be part of the NEC elite!
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That’s the beauty of offseason debate, Jada. My colleague John agrees with you, so we’ll see how it turns out. I’m most likely interviewing Coach Christian in the next few weeks, so I can’t wait to ask him about Parker.
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What does everything think Dwaun Anderson will do for Wagner once he is eligible?
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I think Dwaun Anderson is going to make a real impact at Wagner this season. He seems like the type of player that should compete for rotation minutes as soon as he’s eligible. He’s been around the program for a little while, which should help as well. I had some thoughts in my Wagner recruiting recap: http://nycbuckets.com/2012/07/wagner-reloads-with-three-talented-newcomers/
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