East Coast Conference (Division I) Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year was a basketball award given to the East Coast Conference's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1974–75 season and was discontinued after the league folded following the 1993–94 season. In 1994 the East Coast Conference was absorbed into the Mid-Continent Conference, now known as the Summit League.

East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year

Awarded for	the most outstanding basketball player in the East Coast Conference
Country	United States
History
First award	1975
Final award	1994

There were two ties in the award's history, 1982 and 1987. In its first year, the ECC named players of the year for each division — with Wilbur Thomas of American named the East Player of the Year and Henry Horne of Lafayette winning the West award.

One player, Michael Brooks of La Salle, won the award three times (1978–1980) and was also named the national player of the year in 1980. Two others, Michael Anderson of Drexel and Kurk Lee of Towson, won the award twice.

Key

†	Co-Players of the Year
*	Awarded a national Player of the Year award: Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year (1904–05 to 1978–79) UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present)
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the ECC Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

 

Michael Brooks of La Salle won the award three times, from 1978 to 1980.

 

Len Hatzenbeller of Drexel won in 1981.

Season	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
1974–75^†	Henry Horne	Lafayette	PF / C	Senior	^[1]
	Wilbur Thomas	American	PF / SF	Senior	^[1]
1975–76	Todd Tripucka	Lafayette	SG	Senior	^[2]
1976–77	Rich Laurel	Hofstra	SF	Senior	^[3]
1977–78	Michael Brooks	La Salle	SF	Sophomore	^[4]
1978–79	Michael Brooks (2)	La Salle	SF	Junior	^[4]
1979–80	Michael Brooks* (3)	La Salle	SF	Senior	^[4]
1980–81	Len Hatzenbeller	Drexel	C	Senior	^[5]
1981–82^†	Granger Hall	Temple	C	Sophomore	^[6]
	Mark Nickens	American	SG	Junior	^[6]
1982–83	David Taylor	Hofstra	PF	Senior	^[7]
1983–84	Richard Congo	Drexel	PF	Senior	^[8]
1984–85	Jaye Andrews	Bucknell	SG / SF	Senior	^[9]
1985–86	Michael Anderson	Drexel	PG	Sophomore	^[10]
1986–87^†	Daren Queenan	Lehigh	SF	Junior	^[11]
	Ron Simpson	Rider	SF	Junior	^[11]
1987–88	Michael Anderson (2)	Drexel	PG	Senior	^[12]
1988–89	Kurk Lee	Towson	SG	Junior	^[13]
1989–90	Kurk Lee (2)	Towson	SG	Senior	^[13]
1990–91	Devin Boyd	Towson	PG	Junior	^[14]
1991–92	Terrance Jacobs	Towson	PG / SG	Senior	^[15]
1992–93	East Coast Conference temporarily disbanded				^[16]
1993–94	Reggie Smith	Northeastern Illinois	SG / SF	Senior	^[17]

Winners by school

School (year joined)	Winners	Years
Drexel (1958)	4	1981, 1984, 1986, 1988
Towson (1982)	4	1989, 1990, 1991, 1992
La Salle (1958)	3	1978, 1979, 1980
American (1965)	2	1975^†, 1982^†
Hofstra (1965)	2	1977, 1983
Lafayette (1958)	2	1975^†, 1976
Bucknell (1958)	1	1985
Lehigh (1958)	1	1987^†
Northeastern Illinois (1993)	1	1994
Rider (1966)	1	1987^†
Temple (1958)	1	1982^†
Brooklyn (1991)^[a]	0	—
Buffalo (1991)^[a]	0	—
Central Connecticut (1990)^[a]	0	—
Chicago State (1993)^[a]	0	—
Delaware (1958)^[b]	0	—
Saint Joseph's (1958)^[b]	0	—
Troy (1993)^[a]	0	—
UMBC (1990)^[a]	0	—
West Chester (1969)^[b]	0	—

Footnotes

• ^[a] These schools were not charter members of the ECC and instead joined later. Brooklyn and UMBC left in 1992,^[18] while Buffalo, Central Connecticut, Chicago State, and Troy left in 1994 once the ECC permanently disbanded.^[19]
• ^[b] Delaware, Saint Joseph's, and West Chester were original members of the newly chartered ECC in 1974, having split off with the rest of the schools from the Middle Atlantic Conferences. Saint Joseph's and West Chester left in 1982, while Delaware left in 1991.^[20]

References

1. "Horne, Thomas Head ECC All-Star Teams". York Daily Record. York, Pennsylvania. March 10, 1975. p. 17. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "ECC cites Lafayette's Tripucka". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. March 13, 1976. p. 18. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Hofstra's Rich Laurel Voted Premier Cager In ECC Play". Daily Press. Newport News, Virginia. March 6, 1977. p. 56. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Peoplenotes". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. March 1, 1980. p. 22. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Coaches honor Hatzenbeller". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. March 7, 1981. p. 27. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "St. Joe's trio named all-ECC; Luck on 2nd". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. March 7, 1982. p. 49. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Hens' Carr lauded by ECC". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. March 12, 1983. p. 14. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Congo leads All-ECC hoop squad". York Daily Press. York, Pennsylvania. March 9, 1984. p. 24. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Marcus, Steve (March 3, 1985). "Hofstra Advances in ECC Tourney". Newsday. Nassau County, New York. p. 333. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Drexel sweeps awards for ECC court season". Courier-Post. Cherry Hill, New Jersey. March 1, 1986. p. 31. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Tomashek, Tom (March 6, 1987). "Bison set to try again in ECC". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. p. 23. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
12. Schlottman, Jack (March 4, 1988). "Queenan fires hoops revival for Engineers". The Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. p. 37. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Eisenberg, John (March 7, 1990). "Lee learned his lessons, and he got plenty of help". The Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. p. 17. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
14. "4 from La Salle All-MAAC; 3 from Drexel All-ECC". Philadelphia Daily News. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. March 1, 1991. p. 97. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
15. Bembry, Jerry (March 10, 1992). "Towson beats Hofstra for ECC title". The Evening Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. p. 12. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
16. Mahoney, Larry (November 16, 1992). "Automatic NCAA baseball berth near for NAC champion". Bangor Daily News. Bangor, Maine. p. 16. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
17. Surico, Dave (March 5, 1994). "Eagles snap up East Coast honors". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. p. 52. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
18. McMullen, Paul (May 7, 1992). "East Coast Conference facing its final days". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. p. 12. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
19. Pelzman, J.P. (January 19, 1994). "ECC Pushes Boundaries". Newsday. Suffolk County, New York. p. 128. Retrieved November 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
20. Dell, John (April 4, 1974). "New East Coast Conference Won't Spell Ruin for MAC". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. p. 27. Retrieved February 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.