Brooklyn, N.Y. – Senior
Jaytornah Wisseh and sophomore
Ashley Palmer were awarded with All-Met honors at the 77th annual National Invitation Tournament/Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association awards dinner at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, N.Y., on Wednesday, April 21. Wisseh was named to the All-Met Division I Men's Basketball First Team for the second time, while Palmer collected All-Met Division I Women's Basketball Second Team honors.
Wisseh, a two-time All-Northeast Conference First Team selection, averaged a team-high 17.6 points and 5.7 assists per game. The 6-foot-1 point guard led LIU to a fourth-place finish in the league's regular season with an 11-7 mark. A Preseason All-NEC pick, Wisseh was the only player to rank in the top five in the league in both scoring and assists. In addition to leading the league in assists, he played a league-high 36.03 minutes per game, ranked second in free throw shooting (.832), third in scoring, sixth in assist-turnover ratio (1.4) and seventh in steals (1.6).
A three-time Choice Hotels NEC Player of the Week as a senior, Wisseh capped his career with a personal-best 33 points in the NEC semifinals at Quinnipiac en route to all-tournament honors. He enjoyed one of the all-time great careers at Long Island, becoming just the third player in the program's history to accumulate at least 1,500 points and 500 assists. His 1,693 points is fifth all-time, while his 538 assists is the second-best in LIU annals. During his four-year career, Wisseh set records for most games played (118) and free throws made (513), while finishing second in free throw attempts (641), fourth in field goals attempted (1,351), fifth in steals (177) and 10th in field goals made (538).
The All-Met honor is the second major award for Palmer this season, as she garnered a spot on the All-NEC First Team. After earning the NEC Rookie of the Year award and a spot on the all-conference second team last season, Palmer jumped up to the All-NEC First Team. No longer the Blackbirds' sole scoring threat, the 5-foot-10 forward averaged a team-high 15.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game, ranking fourth and third in the NEC in those categories, respectively. Palmer was also fourth in the league in field-goal percentage, shooting 50.4 percent from the floor and ranking 54th in the nation.
Palmer turned in eight double-doubles and led Long Island in scoring on 11 occasions. The Oxford, Pa., native has eclipsed the 20-point mark eight times, including a season-high 27 points against Wagner on Jan. 21. In her next time out on the court, against Mount St. Mary's on Jan. 23, Palmer amassed 21 points and a career-high 19 rebounds en route to locking up an NEC Player of the Week award on Jan. 25. She has tallied double-digit rebounds in seven games this year.
Palmer averaged 15.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in three NEC Tournament games en route to earning a spot on the all-tournament team.
Joining Wisseh and on the All-Met first team was Jeremy Hazell (Seton Hall), Charles Jenkins (Hofstra), D.J. Kennedy (St. John's), Ryan Thompson (Rider) and Muhammad El-Amin (Stony Brook).
Jenkins was awarded the 77
th Haggerty Award as player of the year, becoming the ninth player to win the award multiple times after he won last year. The Peter A. Carlesimo Coach of the Year award went to Steve Pikiell of Stony Brook. Chris Gaston of Fordham was named the Rookie of the Year.
The women's All-Met First Team included Player of the Year Da'Shena Stevens (St. John's), Rachele Fitz (Marist), Judie Lomax (Columbia), Brittany Ray (Rutgers), Stephanie Geehan (Fairfield) and Erin Anthony (Army).
Joining Palmer on the second team were Michelle Pacheco (Manhattan), Shenneika Smith (St. John's), Thazina Cook (Iona) and Erica Allenspach (Marist).
Kim Barnes Arico of St. John's earned women's basketball Division I Coach of the Year award.
Voting for the All-Met teams was done by members of the media in the tri-state area.