Bryant's Earl Timberlake Named 2024-25 Player of Year

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BOSTON – The best team in #AEHoops during the regular season was rewarded with hardware as regular-season champion Bryant took home three of the league’s six major awards and had several other honorees. Three other schools also earned major awards as the America East released its annual honors on Friday morning.

After a historic season, Earl Timberlake claimed Kevin Roberson Player of the Year honors, and teammate Barry Evans was named the league’s Newcomer of the Year, while their coach, Phil Martelli Jr., was deemed Coach of the Year for the first time. Kellen Tynes became just the second-ever three-time Defensive Player of the Year while UMass Lowell’s Martin Somerville earned Rookie of the Year honors. UAlbany’s Justin Needly received the Sixth Man of the Year accolades rounding out the major award winners.

All of the major awards, All-Conference, All-Defensive, and All-Rookie teams were determined in a vote by the league’s head coaches, who could not vote for their own players.

Player of the Year
Earl Timberlake – Sr., Guard, Bryant

Only player the country averaging at more than 15.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.5 blocks per game this season.
Ranks second in the league in rebounding (8.6 rpg), assists (4.7 apg), and blocks (1.7 bpg).
Four-time #AEHoops Player of the Week in 2024-25.
Two-Time First-Team All-Conference Selection.
First Bulldogs to earn Player of the Year selection.
Also an All-Defensive Team choice.

Defensive Player of the Year
Kellen Tynes – Gr., Guard, Maine

Joins Vermont legend Marqus Blakely as the second player in league history to be named Defensive Player of the Year for a third consecutive year.
Leads the conference and ranks second in the country, averaging 3.1 steals per game.
His 97 thefts are the third-most in a single season in league history and just five shy of matching Speedy Claxton’s conference record.
Anchors a Maine defense that gave up only 66.6 points per game in conference play, the second lowest in the conference, and led Maine to their highest America East seed since 2010-11.
Also named second-team All-Conference.
Three-Time All-Defensive Team selection.

Newcomer of the Year
Barry Evans – Jr., Forward, Bryant

Averaged 13.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 steals while shooting 47 percent from the field.
Ranks sixth in the league in rebounding and ninth in steals.
Scored a career-high 25 points at Delaware on Nov. 18.
Also a second-team All-Conference selection.

Sixth Player of the Year
Justin Neely –Jr., Forward, UAlbany

Averaged 11.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 25 minutes per game off the bench.
Scored 10-plus points 18 times, including a career-high 29 points against Maine on Feb. 20.
Third on the team in scoring and rebounding while shooting 50 percent from the field.
Returned to regular action after missing nearly two full seasons due to injury.

Rookie of the Year
Martin Somerville – Fr., Guard, UMass Lowell

Averaged 13.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game while being fourth in the league in free throw percentage and sixth in steals (25).
Somerville was fifth in the league in minutes played in league action, over 35 minutes per game, and was second in assist/turnover ratio (2.69).
Had a career-high 26 points against NJIT on Jan. 11.
Named #AEHoops Rookie of the Week a league-leading 11 times, breaking Tunji Awojobi’s all-time conference mark set during the 1993-94 season.
Also earned All-Rookie Team honors.

Coach of the Year
Phil Martelli Jr., Bryant

Led Bryant to its first No. 1 seed and its first outright regular season championship since joining America East.
Bryant ranked first in scoring offense (81.5 ppg), scoring margin (+12.8), and third in scoring defense (68.7).
Led Bryant to its first 20-win campaign since the 2021-22 season.
This is the first Coach of the Year honors for Phil Martelli Jr.

Vermont led the way with four All-Conference honorees, including a pair of first-teamers. Rafael Pinzon joined Timberlake and Evans to give Bryant three selections. Binghamton, Maine, and UMass Lowell each had two while UAlbany and UNH had one apiece.

The five All-Defensive choices were also All-Conference picks and featured four repeat selections in Ileri Ayo-Faleye, Shamir Bogues, Max Brooks and Tynes.

Somerville headlined the All-Rookie team which had representation from five schools: UAlbany, UMass Lowell, New Hampshire, NJIT, and Vermont

TJ Hurley headlined the All-Academic team as the lone All-Conference member on the squad. To qualify for All-Academic, student-athletes must be in sophomore All-Academic standing and carry at minimum a 3.30 cumulative GPA. Players are nominated by communications contacts and voted on by a committee of athletics administrators and FARs.

The majority of major award winners and All-Conference honorees will be in action on Saturday for the 2025 #AEPlayoffs quarterfinals. Complete tournament information can be found at americaeast.com/mbbplayoffs.

ABOUT AMERICA EAST
Founded in 1979, the America East Conference is an elite NCAA Division I athletic conference that fosters an environment for student-athletes to become champions. Comprised of academically renowned, like-minded member institutions located in the Northeast region of the United States, America East is committed to broad-based excellence and is progressive in its approach to supporting its more than 3,500 student-athletes across 18 sponsored sports. For more information, visit www.AmericaEast.com and follow the America East Conference its social media channels, @AmericaEast.

– America East Conference – Where Champions Rise –