America East Basketball News & Notes: NABC All-District Teams

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The America East basketball conference was well represented when the NABC announced its All-District teams for the 2020-21 basketball season. Four members of the league and a head coach were a part of the District one team. On the first team was Ryan Davis of Vermont and Obadiah Noel of UMass Lowell. The second team members are Brandon Horvath of UMBC and Zach Cooks of NJIT. Ryan Odem of UMBC was named a co-coach of the year. Let’s take a look at how these individuals were so honored.

Ryan Davis had a stellar year for Vermont. The 6-8 sophomore forward from Schaumburg, Illinois led the league with a 58.6% field goal percentage and was second in scoring average at 18.5 points per game. He ranked ninth in the conference in rebounding with 6.3 boards a contest. He finished in double-figures in scoring in 12 of the 13 games he played in this past season. He recorded four 20-point games, including a career-high 27 points in a victory over NJIT on December 27. Davis posted three double-doubles and among them was a 21 points, 12 rebound game versus Stony Brook on Feb.13. He had three games with at least 10 made field goals. Davis was also named to the USBWA All-District team.

Obadiah Noel averaged a personal-best 21.4 points per game this past campaign. His average had him ranked 11th in the country. He also grabbed five rebounds a game and dished out three assists. A Frederick, MD. native, Noel finished his senior year as just the second River Hawk player to amass over 1,500 points for his career as he totaled 1,616 points. He set a school record by scoring in double-figures in 44 straight games, and recorded nine 20+scoring nights. Noel’s best game came on November, 28 when he dropped 35 on Illinois State. His 26 point performance on Jan. 16 at Binghamton allowed him to surpass the 1,500 point total. Noel becomes the second River Hawk player to be named to the district team after Christian Lutete was named in 2018-19. Noel was also named to the USBWA All-District team.

On the second team was Brandon Horvath of UMBC. Horvath averaged 13 points a game in 19 contests, playing 34 minutes a night. He led the team by pulling down 8.7 boards a night. The rebounding number placed him in the top-five in that category. A senior from West River, MD. Brandon shot 47.5% from the field and shot 30% from three-point land. He had 13 double-digit scoring games during his senior season at UMBC.

Zack Cooks’ first year in America East was a solid one to be sure. The two-time captain and three-year starter from Lawrenceville, GA led his team in scoring for the third straight year. His average of 17 points a game was also third-best in the conference scoring race. His average of two steals a night put him second in the league in that category. He was on top of the team leaderboard in steals, minutes played and finished second in rebounds.

Coach Ryan Odem of UMBC led his team to a tie for the regular-season championship with Vermont. The Retrievers were named as the number one seed for the post-season tournament. His team finished with an overall record of 14-6 and in America East, they went 10-5. Odem has since left the Retrievers program to take the head job at Utah State.

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