Click Here For PDF File
Click Here For MBB Preseason Poll Release

Somerset, NJ -- A pair of players from preseason favorite Fairleigh Dickinson highlight the 2020-21 Northeast Conference (NEC) Men’s Basketball Preseason All-NEC team as selected by the league’s head coaches. Of the five honorees, four were unanimous selections.

The announcement of the team, along with the preseason coaches’ poll, was made on Thursday during NEC Men’s Basketball Virtual Media Day, which aired on NEC Front Row and ESPN3.

The preseason team is comprised of four returning All-NEC performers, including two-time honoree Ty Flowers (Waterbury, CT/Sacred Heart (UMass)), a LIU senior forward. FDU senior Jahlil Jenkins (Ranson, WV/Virginia Academy) was a second team all-star last year, while Mount St. Mary’s junior guard Damian Chong Qui (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) and St. Francis Brooklyn senior guard Chauncey Hawkins (Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional) were third team picks. Jenkins is joined on the team by FDU teammate Elyjah Williams (Evanston, IL/Evanston), a senior forward.

Chong Qui, Flowers, Hawkins and Jenkins were all unanimous selections by NEC coaches.

Any discussion of players who pose extreme matchup problems in the NEC must include Flowers at or near the top of that list. A lanky 6’9” stretch forward with a versatile skill set, Flowers ranked among conference leaders in a host of categories en route to second team All-NEC accolades. He finished ninth in scoring (14.3), second in rebounding (9.6) and double-doubles (14), third in blocks (1.79), and 11th in made three-pointers (1.85) and steals (1.24). In doing so, the Waterbury, CT product became the first NEC player since at least 1992 to finish a season with at least 14.0 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 1.0 spg and 1.0 3PFG/game, and the first during that same time span to finish with more than 50 blocks and triples in the same campaign. Flowers has accumulated 902 points, 411 rebounds and 103 rejections in his two seasons in Brooklyn.

The cat-quick Jenkins was handed the keys to an up-and-coming team as a freshman, helped lead the Knights to the conference title as a sophomore and continued his ascension last season into one of the top point guards of recent NEC memory. FDU’s undisputed floor leader, Jenkins possesses a dazzling mid-range game, a reliable three-point shot and is a one-man fast break whose ability to control the pace of the game separates him from the pack. A year ago, the Ranson, WV product put up some eye-opening numbers on his way to second team recognition, averaging a team-high 16.0 ppg (sixth in the NEC), to go along with 3.9 apg (fifth), 1.8 spg (third), 1.9 3PFG/game (10th), 39.8 percent accuracy from downtown (sixth) and an 82.4 percent mark from the stripe (sixth). Jenkins leads all active NEC players with 1,295 points, 401 assists and 146 steals.

With an ability to beat defenders off the dribble, pinpoint the open man, score in traffic, shoot with accuracy from three-point territory and deliver in the clutch, Chong Qui is the centerpiece of a rising Mount squad. Following a promising freshman season, the 5’8” former walk-on from Baltimore took his game to the next level in 2019-20 and league coaches took notice, voting him as the NEC’s Most Improved Player and to a spot on the All-NEC third team. Chong Qui was the fourth-leading distributor on the circuit with 3.9 apg, and paced the Mount with 12.2 ppg. He also ranked second in the conference in free throw percentage (84.0) and free throw rate (51.8), as well as 11th in three-point accuracy (36.6). Chong Qui enters his junior year with 603 points and 241 assists over two years in Emmitsburg.

One of the most difficult defensive assignments in the conference is matching up one-on-one with Hawkins, who seems to be a direct descendent in the mold of elusive SFBK guards like Brent Jones and Ricky Cadell from the not-too-distant past. Hawkins’ end-to-end quickness creates scoring opportunities for both himself and teammates, and his ability to create contact sent him to the line over five times per game. He also relishes the big moment as there may not be a better player in the NEC with the ball in his hands and the game on the line. As a junior, the 5’8” Hawkins corralled third team All-NEC honors after finishing in the conference top-10 in four individual categories. He ranked eighth in scoring (15.1) and assists (3.2), fourth in steals (1.8) and seventh in free throw percentage (.817). Hawkins, who hails from Spring Valley, NY, cracked the millennium mark during the NEC Tournament last season and heads into his senior year with 1,005 career points. 

Williams can be described as a player whose combination of quickness, strength, elite athleticism and non-stop motor has pushed him to all-star level in the NEC. The rugged 6’7”, 220 lb. forward out of Evanston, IL is at the same time a blue-collar presence and a skywalker who routinely finishes in spectacular fashion on the break, where he is often the recipient of lobs from fellow preseason all-star Jahlil Jenkins. Williams averaged career-highs in scoring (11.8), rebounding (7.3) and blocks (1.3) last season. He finished third in the conference in field goal percentage (.553), sixth in blocks and ninth in rebounding. Williams is the NEC’s second-leading active rebounder with 526 boards and has amassed 758 career points.
  
2020-21 Northeast Conference Preseason All-Conference Team    
          
Name                 School   Pos.   Ht.   Wt.   Cl.    Hometown/High School
Damian Chong Qui     MSM      G      5-8   155   Jr.    Baltimore, MD/McDonogh 
Ty Flowers           LIU      F      6-9   200   R-Sr.  Waterbury, CT/Sacred Heart HS (UMass) 
Chauncey Hawkins     SFBK     G      5-8   165   Sr.    Spring Valley, NY/St. Joseph Regional 
Jahlil Jenkins       FDU      G      6-0   160   Sr.    Ranson, WV/Virginia Academy 
Elyjah Williams      FDU      F      6-7   220   Sr.    Evanston, IL/Evanston

About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 40th anniversary season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout seven states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Boston (#9), Baltimore (#26), Hartford/New Haven (#33) and Providence (#53). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 24 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU, Merrimack, Mount St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.