Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Names 2007-08 Award Winners
4/15/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
April 15, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - On a day when seniors John Griffin, Darren Mastropaolo and Rob Thomas each offered emotional farewells to the Bucknell men's basketball program, the trio of captains each received honors at the annual Backcourt Club Awards Banquet, held Sunday afternoon in the Terrace Room on campus.
Members of the second-winningest senior class in school history, Griffin, Mastropaolo and Thomas all received the Malcolm E. Musser Award for Leadership. Griffin earned the team's 2008 MVP honor, the Benton A. Kribbs Award. Mastropaolo received the Coaches' Award, presented in recognition of "contributions and loyalty to the Bucknell basketball family."
The only non-senior to win an award was sophomore forward Stephen Tyree, who won the Thomas A. Thompson Award for spirit, intensity and outstanding defensive play.
For nearly an hour, all three seniors reflected on their time at Bucknell and thanked their teammates, coaches and families. This trio took part in 85 victories over the last four seasons, an average of 21.3 per season. The only class to win more games was the Class of 2007 (Abe Badmus, Donald Brown and Chris McNaughton), which captured 87.
Griffin, Mastropaolo and Thomas were all integral parts of the 2005 and 2006 teams that won Patriot League titles as well as the first two NCAA Tournament victories in program history. From 2005-07, they helped Bucknell to three straight 20-win seasons for the first time.
Griffin earned First Team All-Patriot League honors for the first time in 2007-08, when he garnered two school records. He played in 127 career games, never missing a single game in four years, and broke the Bucknell record of 125 games played, previously held by McNaughton. Griffin also tied Kevin Bettencourt's school record for 3-pointers in a season with 79.
Griffin scored 1,084 points to finish 25th on Bucknell's career list. His 220 career 3-pointers were second in school history, behind only Bettencourt. He finished ninth in school history with a .799 career free-throw percentage and was also ninth all-time with 136 career steals.
In 2007-08, Griffin averaged a career-high 13.1 points per game. He scored 20 or more points in a game seven times as a senior, including career-high 31 against Colgate. Hit six 3-pointers and scored 22 points against Villanova, and he canned eight 3-pointers in 12 attempts against American this past season. Of course, his 40-foot shot at the final buzzer to beat Navy 87-86 in triple overtime in the 2008 Patriot League Tournament will go down as one of the most memorable shots in school history.
The most inspirational story of the season involved Mastropaolo, who needed less than five months to return to the floor after he suffered an ACL tear in a summer pick-up game. All he did after returning to the lineup was set career highs in scoring average (7.8) and minutes played per game (24.4). Mastropaolo, a two-time winner of the Tommy Thompson Award and Bucknell's very first basketball player from the state of Maine, will best be remembered for things that go beyond the stat sheet. One of the team's emotional leaders, he was a strong fundamental player. He twice led the team in drawn charges, and coach Pat Flannery called him the best screener he has ever coached.
Thomas also had to come back from an injury during his senior year, as he suffered a knee injury just minutes into Bucknell's season-opening game against Albany. The mishap cost him about half the season, but he still made it back for 16 games, seven of which he started. Thomas averaged 18.4 minutes per game as a senior, a career-high, and averaged 4.5 points per game. He shot 47.6 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from the 3-point stripe.
Thomas played in 79 career games. His career scoring high of 16 points came against Wake Forest during his junior year. In that overtime game he went 6-for-9 from floor and 3-for-3 from 3-point range in that game.
Tyree was the clear choice for the 2008 Tommy Thompson Award after being named the 2008 Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year. In his first year as a starter, Tyree did a little bit of everything for Bucknell. In addition to scoring 7.0 points per game, he led the team in both offensive and defensive rebounding, field goal percentage, assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. Tyree shot 57.9 percent from the field, the 10th-best figure in school history. In Patriot League games alone, he shot an astounding 66.7 percent (46-69), the best percentage in the league.
Almost all of those numbers came while playing the power forward position at 6'3", and while typically guarding the opposition's best offensive player.
Also on Sunday the Bucknell coaching staff presented a special award of recognition to senior Ted McGrath, a four-year student manager for the Bison.
At the annual Backcourt Club Awards Banquet, the Bison program also awards the Backcourt Award for "contribution and loyalty to the program." This year's recipient was Lewisburg Mayor Judy Wagner. An avid supporter of Bucknell basketball, Mayor Wagner was a regular at Sojka Pavilion on game nights and also made numerous road trips to see the Bison away from home.
In both 2005 and 2006, the mayor declared Bucknell Men's Basketball Day in Lewisburg following the NCAA Tournament victories over Kansas and Arkansas. She also presented certificates of appreciation to the three seniors at Sunday's banquet.
