Griffin, Franz Earn All-Region Honors Twice Over; Coach Harney Named Region Coach of the Year
Complete list of NABC All-Region Teams
Complete list of D3hoops.com All-Region Teams
Kansas City, Mo. – Fifth-year head coach Chris Harney was recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches as the 2010 Middle Atlantic Region Coach of the Year while the backcourt duo of senior Camontae Griffin (Baltimore, Md./Dunbar) and junior Alex Franz (Catonsville, Md./Cardinal Gibbons) were both selected to the NABC All-Middle Atlantic Region Second Team. Griffin and Franz represented St. Mary’s College of Maryland as well on the D3hoops.com All-Middle Atlantic Region.
Harney’s selection as the Middle Atlantic Region
Coach of the Year is the first for the St. Mary’s men’s
basketball program and comes on the heels of his selection by his
peers as the Capital Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
In just five seasons, Harney has completely turned
the program around and led the Seahawks to two NCAA Division III
Men’s Basketball Championship “Sweet 16”
appearances as well as two CAC championship titles and back-to-back
CAC regular-season titles. His career record currently stands
at 91-48 (50-28 CAC) and to date, he has coached three players to
five all-region awards.
Coming off the program’s second trip to the “Sweet 16,” Griffin and Franz have helped to lead the Seahawks to a two-year record of 47-9 (28-4 CAC) and back-to-back conference regular-season titles. Griffin was named first team D3hoops.com All-Middle Atlantic Region after earning third team honors last season while Franz picked up second team laurels.
As one of the program’s most prolific scorers,
Griffin eclipsed the 1,000 point mark in just two
years as a Seahawk and finished his career with 1,156 points.
The 5-9 guard spent the entire 2009-10 season leading the
conference in scoring with 21.6 points per game, ranking him 18th
in Division III. As a starter in all 30 games,
Griffin finished second on the team and in the
league with 64 steals (a 2.1 average). He ranked among the
top 5 CAC players in free throw percentage as well, owning a
third-best percentage of .839. Griffin
tallied a school record 51 points in leading the Seahawks to their
second consecutive Pride of Maryland title.
Franz started all 30 games and finished second in scoring
for the second straight year with 13.7 points per game. The
6-1 guard not only led the conference in steals and assists but
also ranked third in Division III with a 3.6 steals average.
Franz joined the elite group of 1,000 point
scorers in the Seahawks’ final game of the season and heads
into his senior campaign with 1,006 points. He tied for the
team lead in rebounding with a 5.2 average while ranking first in
the league in assist-to-turnover ratio with 2.0.
One of the program’s most successful seasons came to an end for the Seahawks in the “Sweet 16” with a 92-87 loss to Franklin & Marshall last weekend. St. Mary’s finished the 2009-10 season with an overall record of 26-4, setting the school record for most wins in a season at 26. The 2009-10 campaign marked the fourth consecutive winning season as well as the second straight 20+ win season for the Seahawks.
