By ADAM ZAGORIA
St. John’s sophomore guard Shamorie Ponds won the 85th Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award as All-Met Men’s Player of the Year on Wednesday. The award will be given Wednesday evening (tonight).
Ponds beat out Seton Hall senior big man Angel Delgado, who also repeated as an All-Met First Team selection.
Ponds’ coach, Chris Mullin, is a three-time recipient (1983-84-85) of the Haggerty Award.
The 6-foot-1 Ponds averaged 21.6 points. 5.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists, including a career-high 44 points in a February win over Marquette.
“It’s big — it’s big for St. John’s, big for me,” Ponds told the New York Post. “It’s a cool accomplishment. … I’m not sure who was going to win it. I was confident with what I did, even without the team’s success. I think I had an overall solid year.”
Ponds is testing the NBA Draft waters without an agent and told the Post he has workouts coming up with the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. It remains to be seen whether he will draw an invite to the NBA Draft Combine set for May 16-20 in Chicago. Combine invites go out Friday.
“It’s a hard decision right now,” he told The Post.
SUMMARY
NEW YORK (April 23, 2018) – The 2017-18 All-Met Division I men’s college basketball teams announced Monday by the Met Basketball Writers Association.
First Team
Angel Delgado, Seton Hall 6-10, Sr., C Dominican Republic
Joel Hernandez, LIU Brooklyn 6-3, Sr., G Teaneck, NJ
Tyler Nelson, Fairfield 6-3, Jr., G Bradford, MA
Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s 6-1, So., G Brooklyn, NY
Desi Rodriguez, Seton Hall 6-6, Sr., G/F Bronx, NY
Justin Wright-Foreman, Hofstra 6-1, Jr., G Queens, NY
Second Team
Khadeen Carrington, Seton Hall 6-4, Sr., G Brooklyn, NY
Myles Powell, Seton Hall 6-2, So., G Trenton, NJ
Corey Sanders, Rutgers 6-2, Jr., G Lakeland, FL
Rickey McGill, Iona 6-1, Jr., G Spring Valley, NY
JoJo Cooper, Wagner 6-0, Sr., G Wilmington, DE
Dimencio Vaughn, Rider 6-5, Fr., G New York, NY
Justin Simon, St. John’s 6-5, So., G Temecula, CA
Third Team
Rokas Gustys, Hofstra 6-9, Sr., C Lithuania
Anthony Tarke, NJIT 6-6, So., G/F Gaithersburg, MD
Mike Smith, Columbia 5-11, So., G Burr Ridge, IL
Joseph Chartouny, Fordham 6-3, Jr., G Montreal, Quebec
Rich Williams, Manhattan 6-6, Sr., G Brooklyn, NY
Blake Francis, Wagner 6-0, So., G Herndon, VA
Rookie of the Year: Geo Baker, Rutgers
Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year: Tim Cluess, Iona
(Release via Met Basketball Writers Association)
