Basketball masculin | Gaiters well represented in RSEQ awards
The RSEQ announced the men’s basketball all-star teams and major award winners on Wednesday and the Bishop’s Gaiters were well represented. Mike Andrews was named player of the year and defensive player of the year, Rod Gilpin was the coach of the year and Tim Hunter received the RSEQ’s nomination for the Ken Shields award. Andrews and Jeremy Leonard-Smith were both first team all-stars while Jonathan Bermillo cracked a spot on the all-rookie team.
Andrews an Oakville, Ontario native was a force in the RSEQ. He was second in the conference in scoring averaging 15.3 points per game on a league leading 53.8 percent shooting. He averaged 6.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists and was second in the country with 2.0 blocks per game all the while averaging 24.9 minutes off the bench. The 6-foot-10, third year centre was named Provigo Robert Lafond Bishop’s Athlete of the Week three times during the season.
Gilpin from originally Sudbury, Ontario is in his fifth year at the helm of the storied Gaiters men’s program. This season was without a doubt his most successful. The Gaiters posted a 17-8 overall record and 10-6 RSEQ league record en route to a second place finish. A year ago Bishop’s missed the playoffs with a 4-12 record (9-16 overall). This is his first RSEQ men’s coach of the year award to go along with his five RSEQ women’s coach of the year awards (1994-95, 97-98 and three straight from 2002-2005), all with Bishop’s.
Hunter earns his second consecutive Ken Shields Award nomination for excelling on the court while performing well in the classroom and being heavily involved in the Bishop’s and Lennoxville communities.
On the hardwood the 6-foot-7 forward was solid. He averaged 9.9 points per game, while shooting 41.1 percent from the field. His 2.3 steals per game was second in the RSEQ and 10th in the CIS. He played 30.7 minutes per game while starting every game in his final university season.
Off the court the Baie D’Urfe, Quebec native was a true leader. He spearheaded many different team initiatives giving back to the Lennoxville community. He started ‘Terry’s Cause on Campus’, is the LAMPE Foundation student representative, has been involved with the ‘Barrage Routier’ that benefits the Heart and Stroke Foundation for the past two winters, has coached at countless basketball camps and clinics and was a driving force in the Alexander Galt Christmas Basket Campaign where the Gaiters bagged groceries while raising funds for the local high school.
Leonard-Smith (Ottawa) earned a first team all-star selection while Bermillo (Montreal) put up strong numbers in his first university season and was named to the all-rookie team.
