Atlantic 10 Releases 2016 Awards

The Atlantic 10 released its postseason awards on Tuesday afternoon. St. Joe's forward Deandre' Bembry was named Conference Player of the Year. Other major award winners included Defensive Player of the year Hassan Martin, Rookie of the Year Joseph Chartouny, Chris Daniels Most Improved Player of the Year Isaiah Miles, co-Sixth Men of the Year Jabarie Hinds and Denzel Gregg, and Coach of the Year Mark Schmidt.

Bembry emerged as the favorite for player in the year early in conference play. He's an important pice of nearly every aspect of the success St. Joe's achieved this year. In addition to scoring 17 points per game he added 7.8 rebounds per game and ran the offense, averaging 4.5 assists per contest. Bembry was also a valuable player on the defensive end, averaging a team-leading 1.5 steals per game to go along with 0.8 blocks per game on his way to an All-Defensive Team selection.

Martin missed five games in conference play due to injury and still led the conference with 65 total blocks, seven more than his closest competitor Mo Allie-Cox. This opened up a wide gap between his blocks per game average and Allie-Cox's. Having to deal with such a dominant rim protector made offenses alter their game plans to take longer and more difficult shots. While there are some superior defensive teams than Rhode Island, there isn't a player that impacts the game so much on defense. The big gripe about this pick may actually come from Rhode Island fans. Despite Martin being named the Most Valuable Player on the defensive side of the ball, he wasn't selected on any of the three All-Conference teams.

Chartouny did a little bit of everything for a Fordham team that greatly outperformed expectations. The 6-foot-3 guard led the team with 6.2 assists per game. His 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game were both good for second on the team, and finighed the regular season third in scoring with 11 points per game. After preseason predictions pegged Fordham for a last place finish, first year head coach Jeff Neubauer guided the Rams to eighth. With the team's two leading scorers graduating, expect an increased role for Chartouny going forward.

Miles spent his first two seasons at St. Joe's as a bit player. He averaged 5.1 minutes per game as a freshman and 9.4 as a sophomore. His role increased pretty dramatically as a junior. He upped his scoring from 3.0 points per game the year before to 10.7. His rebounding saw a similar jump, going from 1.7 as a sophomore to 5.1 as a junior. In 2016, Miles made a similar jump. He scored more points and secured more rebounds as a senior than he did in his first three years combined. In his final year, Miles is outdoing the even Player of the Year Bembry with 18.0 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He was an absolute no-brainer for Most Improved Player.

The most surprising inclusion in the major awards is UMass guard Jabarie Hinds. Hinds earned co-Sixth Man of the Year honors despite starting 19 of the team's 30 games this season. The most likely explanation for his inclusion on the list is that all 11 of the games he didn't start came in Atlantic 10 play.  Between Hinds' award and Dyshawn Pierre's inclusion on the All-Conference Second Team after missing 11 games, it's clear that many voters placed most of the emphasis for their votes on how players performed in the A-10.

St. Bonaventure's Denzel Gregg is the other winner of the Sixth Man of the Year award. The 6-foot-7 junior forward averaged 9.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game for the conference co-champion Bonies. Unlike his co-honoree, there won't be any argument about whether Gregg is qualified for the award. While his minutes per game average was within the top five on the team, he started just two games all season.

St. Bonaventure Head Coach Mark Schmidt earned the Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year award after leading the Bonnies to a share of their first ever Atlantic 10 regular season title. An argument could easily be made that Will Wade deserved the Coach of the Year award after winning a share of the A-10 regular season title in year one of the post-Shaka Smart era. Wade would certainly be a deserving candidate, but it's tough to argue with Schmidt after his Bonnies will finally be hanging a regular season championship banner in the rafters after 37 years in the league. This is a situation where either pick is a great one.

All- Conference First Team

Jack Gibbs, Davidson
Charles Cooke, Dayton
Jaylen Adams, St. Bonaventure
DeAndre' Bembry, Saint Joseph's
Melvin Johnson, VCU

All- Conference Second Team

Dyshawn Pierre, Dayton
Tyler Cavanaugh, George Washington
Patricio Garino, George Washington
Isaiah Miles, Saint Joseph's
Marcus Posley, St. Bonaventure

All- Conference Third Team

Micah Mason, Duquesne
Ryan Rhoomes, Fordham
T.J. Cline, Richmond
Terry Allen, Richmond
Mo Alie-Cox, VCU

All-Academic Team

Christian Sengfelder, Fordham
Tyler Cavanaugh, George Washington
Patricio Gariono, George Washington
Alex Mitola, GeorgeWashington
Mike Crawford, Saint Louis
Mo Alie-Cox, VCU

*There was a tie for the last All-Academic Team spot.

All-Defensive Team

Charles Cooke, Dayton
Patricio Garino, George Washington
Mo Alie-Cox, VCU
Hassan Martin, Rhode Island
DeAndre' Bembry, Saint Joseph's

All-Rookie Team

Joseph Chartouny, Fordham
Otis Livingston, George Mason
Lamarr Kimble, Saint Joseph's
Jermaine Bishop, Saint Louis
Khwan Fore, Richmond