NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – After concluding the season ranked No. 3 in the nation, the Randolph-Macon College Yellow Jackets swept the major awards for the 2019-20 Virginia Sports Information Directors College Division All-State Men's Basketball teams announced on Tuesday.
Second team All-American Buzz Anthony was named the VaSID Player of the Year while his freshman teammate Miles Mallory collected State Rookie of the Year honors. Their guide, Josh Merkel, was named the VaSID Coach of the Year after leading the Yellow Jackets through one of the program's most successful seasons.
While Macon highlighted the individual awards, the first- and second-team plaudits were spread amongst ten different programs around the state. Anthony was joined on the first team by Jason Aigner (Christopher Newport), William Brueggeman (Washington & Lee), Greg Rowson (Mary Washington), and Cameron Whiteside (UVA-Wise).
Anthony was named the State Player of the Year for the second consecutive season becoming the first player to repeat since 2006-07 when Brandon Adair accomplished the feat for Virginia Wesleyan University. He also repeated as the ODAC Player of the Year en route to a first team All-Region and first team All-District selection this season. Anthony led the nation in free-throw percentage, knocking down 92%, and ranked third in the nation in triple doubles with a pair. He dished out 187 total assists (6.2 per game) and ranked in the top-15 nationally in assist/turnover ratio and steals.
Mallory is the first Randolph-Macon player honored as State Rookie of the Year in program history. The award was established in 2008. The ODAC Rookie of the Year went on to earn D3hoops.com South Region Rookie of the Year accolades after setting a program record and ranking fourth nationally in blocked shots with 75. He ranked second in the league in field goal percentage with a .565 mark and was a top-ten rebounder in the ODAC with 7.8 boards per game.
Rounding out the major awards was Randolph-Macon helmsman Josh Merkel after earning ODAC Coach of the Year honors for the third consecutive season. He was named the South District Coach of the Year by the NABC and led the Yellow Jackets to the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Championship and through the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament before the remainder of the postseason event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 virus. Randolph-Macon concluded the season with a 28-2 overall record, matching the program mark for wins in a season, and wrapped up the year ranked No. 3 in the final national poll.
The VaSID All-State second team featured Steve Etienne (Marymount), Tim Fisher (Virginia Wesleyan), Colin Molden (Emory & Henry), T.C. Thacker (Lynchburg), and Drew Walton (Apprentice).
VaSID names 44 all-state teams in 23 sports each year, as well as an Academic All-State squad and an all-sports champion in both the University and College Divisions. Membership in VaSID is open to all media relations professionals working at a University or Conference in the state of Virginia.
2019-20 VaSID College Division All-State Men's Basketball Teams
Player of the Year: Buzz Anthony, Randolph-Macon College
Rookie of the Year: Miles Mallory, Randolph-Macon College
Coach of the Year: Josh Merkel, Randolph-Macon College
First Team
Jason Aigner, Christopher Newport University
Buzz Anthony, Randolph-Macon College
William Brueggeman, Washington & Lee University
Greg Rowson, University of Mary Washington
Cameron Whiteside, University of Virginia at Wise
Second Team
Steve Etienne, Marymount University
Tim Fisher, Virginia Wesleyan University
Colin Molden, Emory & Henry College
T.C. Thacker, University of Lynchburg
Drew Walton, Newport News Apprentice School