[drunkidiot]

I'm really bored so that's why I'm doing this. With ESPN doing its Silver Anniversary Team promotion I thought it would be interesting to see what everybody thinks the America East Silver Anniversary Team looks like. ESPN only did their top 10 conferences I believe and needless to say the A-East didn't make the cut. The rules are 2 gaurds, 2 forwards and 1 center make the team. Each player had to have played in the A-East. My team is:

C: Kevin Roberson UVM
F: Taylor Coppenrath UVM
F: Reggie Lewis NU
G: Eddie Benton UVM
G: Craig Claxton Hofstra

Well that's my completely impartial A-East Silver Anniversary Team . If you need a friendly reminder of the a-Easts former studs check here:
http://americaeast.com/mbasketball/2002/history.htm

 

[animal]

Originally posted by <b>drunkidiot</b>!
I'm really bored so that's why I'm doing this. With ESPN doing its Silver Anniversary Team promotion I thought it would be interesting to see what everybody thinks the America East Silver Anniversary Team looks like. ESPN only did their top 10 conferences I believe and needless to say the A-East didn't make the cut. The rules are 2 gaurds, 2 forwards and 1 center make the team. Each player had to have played in the A-East. My team is:

C: Kevin Roberson UVM
F: Taylor Coppenrath UVM
F: Reggie Lewis NU
G: Eddie Benton UVM
G: Craig Claxton Hofstra

Well that's my completely impartial A-East Silver Anniversary Team . If you need a friendly reminder of the a-Easts former studs check here:
http://americaeast.com/mbasketball/2002/history.htm

If there wasn't the two guards two forwards one center rule I might drop Benton and add Malik Rose, or Rose could replace Coppenrath now (I don't think he would by the time Coppenrath is done). Good list though and a good discussion starter, they are doing the same thing on the CAA board.

 

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Based on NBA tenure, difficult to not include Malik Rose of Drexel and Vinny Baker of Hartford on the AE team.

 

[the professor]

Best players

Claxton, Lewis, Rose, Baker, Awojobi

 

[NU Hoop Fan]

You can't ignore Perry Moss...

I think that Perry Moss from NU deserves some consideration. No one really mentions him on the board, since not many of the posters saw him play, but he was solid shooting guard who played for NU in the early years of the conference and was as good of a 2 guard as there was. Averaged 24 ppg as a senior, and holds the NU record for most points as a senior (710).

Moss' famed half court shot against Ronnie Perry and Holy Cross in the 1981 NAC title game sent the game into OT where NU went on to gain its first title berth. He led NU to 2 NCAA tournament wins (one each in 81 and 82), and NU was a Dave Leitao missed bunny in triple ot against Villanova from going to the Sweet 16 in 1982.

Moss played in the CBA for a couple of seasons and the NBA for pieces of five seasons.

I'd take Moss over Eddie Benton every day of the week and twice when he plays BU. Benton was a scorer, plain and simple and didn't win anything when he was at UVM, Moss was much more of a complete player, and was a winner on 2 NCAA Tournament teams.


Some other guys to consider... Brown from Siena, Mike Smrek from Canisius (I think he was a better college player than Kevin Roberson but I'll won't put up much of a stink if Roberson's on the team), Ronnie Perry from Holy Cross, Andre LaFleur from Northeastern (held the NCAA Record for Assists in a Career before Sherman Douglas broke his record).

 

[Long Island Hawk]

Did Doremius Bennerman play in the NAC? I would include him

 

[NU Hoop Fan]

No, Siena left the AE one or two years before Bennerman went to Siena. We played Siena when he was there, and he was a better version of Eddie Benton, IMHO.

I saw him play in High School, and he was quite good.

 

[buhoops]

How can you leave off Tunji Awojobi? In the AE career record book he ranks 2nd in scoring, 2nd in rebounding, 2nd in blocks, 2nd in field goals made, 4th in free throws made.

Nobody else--- including Reggie Lewis, Malik Rose, and Vin Baker
---ranks in the top 5 in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

 

[rozzie]

coppenrath, rose, claxton, lewis, baker...........no ifs ands or buts......

i loved tunji and he has nice stats, but coppenrath, rose, and baker were better AE players. he's first off of the bench though.

no way does eddie benton get on the first team. he doesn't even belong in the same gym as claxton and lewis and i would even pick perry moss and perhaps andy bedard ahead of him. eddie benton scored a lot of points because he played on bad to so-so VT teams and HAD to score a lot of points. he never got better over the 4 years he played there.

drexel had a good two guard back in their heyday, whose name escapes me as well.

 

[Drew VT 6]

We'll have to see how Coppenrath concludes his career...that said I think he'll go down as a top five player.

Rose
Baker
Coppenrath
Lewis
Claxton

I wouldn't say any of them are centers so we'll play with Rose guarding the other team's center!

I can't believe Andy Bedard got brought up...even though I always cheered for the former Mountain Valley H.S. star cuz of his hometown, I always felt like he underachieved in college.

 

[Chet the Jet]

Rose, Baker, Awojobi, Lewis, Claxton

Those are the guys I'd go with.

It's neither here nor there, but I really believe that if Julian Dunkley played his whole career in AE, he'd have been worthy of a mention. Could shoot the 3 and drive it, all at 6-10. Extremely difficult matchup at this level of D1. Sorry about the what-if.

 

[drunkidiot]

Tunji, Rose and Baker definitely deserve to be on the list as they were great players. I'm a little surprised by the anti-Benton sentiment. I agree that his teams weren't very good and he really was primarily a scorer. One thing you can't say is he wasn't a great player. He is actually the main reason that I started to watch and enjoy UVM basketball. His ability to shoot from anywhere on the court was truly amazing. He routinely would pop and make three's from 4 ft beyond the arc. Just to see him cross half court and pop a 3 in some ones face was well worth the price of admission. His ability to drive past a player and finish with an "and 1" was truly unbelievable. He had the ability to totally take over a game. Eddie Benton had a career 83% free throw and also leads the conference in career Free Throw attempts. If that isn't a telling stat nothing is. Benton wasn't even a post player yet teams continually put him on the line even though he shot 83% from there. Talk about being scared of a guy. There are definitely a few reasons to keep him off the list but to act like his name shouldn't even have been discussed is a little absurd.