NEC All-Decade Team Announcement

BROOKLYN, N.Y. - The Northeast Conference released the NEC men's basketball All-Decade Team Thursday afternoon. The list was voted on by a nine-person panel of NEC coaches, media and analysts. The panel was given a list of 25 players to choose from and asked to vote their team "1" through "10." To qualify for this list, each player had to compete for at least two seasons in the NEC this decade. LIU had three players chosen, including Jamal Olasewere, who was named the NEC's Player of the Decade. He was joined by teammates Julian Boyd and Jason Brickman.
 
Together, the three players account for 4,520 points in LIU history, 2,147 rebounds and 1,269 assists. Combined, they hold one all-time NEC record, nine LIU program records, three Player and Rookie of the Year honors, and a combined seven All-NEC honors, as well as three-straight NEC championship titles and NCAA appearances on 2011, 2012 and 2013.
 
A staple of the LIU dynasty from 2010-2013, Jamal Olasewere redefined the power forward position with an impossibly quick first step and ability to slash and attack the rim with reckless abandon. His opponents may have known what was coming, and yet they couldn't contain the athletic and fiercely competitive wing, as evident from Olasewere's 860 career free-throw attempts (an LIU record). His final three seasons in Brooklyn stack up as one the great stretches of any NEC player, checking off every box a student-athlete could hope for. He was a multi-year league champion, won the 2013 NEC POY award after a dominant senior season (18.9 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 51.5% FG) and finished as LIU's all-time leading scorer with 1,871 points. He was literally unguardable.
 
There's no question that Julian Boyd, the 2009 NEC Rookie of the Year, personified grit and guile in his return from a heart ailment that forced him to miss the 2009-10 campaign. His return from that red-shirt season resulted in one of the most decorated careers the league has seen, culminating with two LIU championships and a NEC POY honor in 2012. Boyd may have been undersized as a big, yet he possessed the surest hands around the rim and grew his burgeoning game to the point where his offense from behind the arc (42.0% 3PT as a junior) served as a nice complement to his unstoppable interior game (career 55.5% 2PT). Boyd and Jason Brickman on the pick-and-roll were indefensible, resulting in the duo providing LIU fans much joy over the early part of the decade.

As the greatest pure point guard ever to play in the NEC, Brickman finished his illustrious career with the fourth most assists in NCAA Division I history with 1,009 helpers. The 3-time champion used his elite passing eye, pristine handle and efficiency from behind the arc (career 41.3% 3PT) and at the charity stripe (career 83.4% FT) to serve as the engine of the greatest offensive dynasty the league had ever seen. It's a major reason why Jim Ferry and Jack Perri entrusted Brickman to play 89% of LIU's available minutes over his final three seasons. There was no one who could see the court and create passing lanes out of nothing quite like Brickman.
 

NEC Player of the Decade
Jamal Olasewere, LIU

NEC All-Decade Team
Karvel Anderson, Robert Morris
Julian Boyd, LIU
Keith Braxton, Saint Francis U.
Jason Brickman, LIU
Jalen Cannon, St. Francis Brooklyn
Shane Gibson, Sacred Heart
Ken Horton, CCSU
Velton Jones, Robert Morris
Junior Robinson, Mount St. Mary's


NEC All-Decade Panel
Glenn Braica, Head Coach of St. Francis Brooklyn
Nelson Castillo, Founder of Blackbirds Hoops Journal Blog
Joe DeSantis, NEC TV Analyst
Rob Krimmel, Head Coach of Saint Francis University
Anthony Latina, Head Coach of Sacred Heart University
Matt Mauro, Founder of The Blue Devils Den Blog
Ryan Peters, NEC Sports and Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook Contributor
Dave Popkin, NEC Play-by-Play Announcer
Ron Ratner, Senior Associate Commissioner of the Northeast Conference