March 12, 2013

NEWPORT NEWS, Va.—Temple senior Khalif Wyatt was named Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Player of the Year and Saint Louis coach Jim Crews was chosen as the Coach of the Year the league announced Tuesday. VCU’s Briante Weber earned Defensive Player of the Year honors and Xavier freshman Semaj Christon was named the conference’s Rookie of the Year.

Cody Ellis of Saint Louis was named the A-10’s Sixth Man of the Year and Xavier’s Travis Taylor was selected for the Chris Daniels’ Most Improved Player Award. The league also released its All-Conference teams, which along with the major awards were voted on by a panel of the A-10’s 16 head coaches. The All-Academic team, which was selected by the A-10’s sports information directors, was also announced Tuesday.

Wyatt led the Owls and the Atlantic 10 in scoring, averaging 19.9 points per game. A senior guard from Norristown, Pa., he recorded five games where he scored 30 or more points and he was named A-10 Player of the Week four times this season.

Crews led the Billikens to the top seed for the A-10 Championship and an Atlantic 10 regular season title for the first time in school history. SLU was 24-6 this season, including a nine-game and an 11-game win streak. Crews’ guided his Saint Louis team through the loss of former coach Rick Majerus.

Weber was among the nation’s leader is steals, helping the Rams and their trademark HAVOC defense rate first in that category as a team for most of the season. A sophomore guard from Chesapeake, Va., his quick hands and feet helped him average 2.8 steals per game.

Christon led Xavier in scoring, averaging 15.4 points per game to rank sixth in the A-10 and lead all freshmen. A guard from Cincinnati, Ohio, he also ranked fifth in assists in the league, averaging 4.7 per game.

Ellis, a senior forward from Perth Australia, averaged 10.1 points per game, all coming off the bench. A catalyst for the Billikens, he also averaged 3.5 rebounds per game and one steal per game.

Taylor, a senior forward from Union, N.J. led the Atlantic 10 in rebounding, pulling down 10.2 rebounds per game. He also averaged 11.4 points per game, making him the only player with a double-double average in the A-10 this season.

The awards serve as the lead off to the 2013 Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball Championship, which tips off Thursday from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The single-elimination tournament features 12 teams battling for the A-10 title and an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.