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

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The college basketball season has ended for the America East Conference, but the postseason still has some legs left. Last week, the NABC announced its 2024-25 All-District teams and District Coaches of the Year. The teams were made up of ten geographic regions that involved multiple states. There are five players and one coach from the league who are a part of these district teams. Let’s take a look at how the teams were made.

In the Mid-Atlantic District, two members of the regular season and postseason champs, the Bryant College Bulldogs, are named. Head coach Phil Martelli Jr. was named District Coach of the Year in just his second year as the head coach. Martelli led the program to a Division I program record of 23 wins. They entered the NCAA Tournament having won their last six games and 17-of-19 since the new year began. Earl Timberlake was named to the second team Mid-Atlantic District. The regular season America East Player of the Year and the AE Tournament Most Outstanding Player finished the regular season averaging 15.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and one steal. He was the only player in the nation to post these averages, and he is just one of two in history to post these numbers in a single season. Timberlake is a three-time All-America East selection and, for the second year in a row, has earned All-District honors.

In the North Atlantic District, four players earned second-team All-District honors. Vermont’s TJ Hurley was named to the All-District team and played in all 31 games for Vermont, averaging double figures in 24 of the 31 games played. Hurley averaged 15.8 points per game and 2.4 rebounds a night, shot 42.7% from the field, and 38.2% from behind the 3-point line. He also had 22 steals to his credit.

Fifth-year guard Quinton Mincy of UMass Lowell made the North Atlantic second team All-District Team. He became the fourth River Hawks to make an All-District team since the program became Division I. This past season was Mincy’s best with UMass Lowell. He led the team with a 16.8 points average, which was also a career high. He was second on the team with 6.8 boards a night, had 11 double-doubles on the year, as well as 16 games of 20+ points. He reached 1,000 points for his career on January 23rd vs Maine.

The Maine Black Bears came off a season in which they made the championship game of the conference tournament. They had two players make the North Atlantic All-District second team. Guard Kellen Tynes, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year in the league, posted career-highs during the regular season in assists with 143, assists per game at 4.6, steals at 97, blocks with 21, and three-pointers at 23. He also set career-highs in three-point percentage at 33.9%, free throw percentage at 75.3%, and was second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.7 a game.

AJ Lopez of the Black Bears was also named to the North Atlantic All-District second team. He had an impressive season for Maine as he ranked in the top 10 in every scoring category in the league. He was tenth in points per game at 15.8, eighth in total points with 253, tenth in field goal percentage at 50.3%, and first in free throws at 91.1%. The free-throw mark was seventh best in the country, and his 3-point percentage ended at 42.2%, an eight-point jump from a season ago. His scoring average jumped up by six points from last year.