NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Iona College men’s basketball junior A.J. English earned several accolades for his performance in the Gaels three games last week. English was tabbed by CollegeInsider.com as the Lou Henson Award National Player of the Week, by CollegeSportsMadness.com as its National Mid-Major Player of the Week and Conference Player of the Week, as well as by the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference as its Player of the Week.
English averaged 28.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals in Iona’s three games last week, all on the road. He shot 49.1% from the field, 43.3% from beyond the arc and 87.5% from the charity stripe and had an assist to turnover ratio of 2.4:1.
English began the week with 22 points at Wofford in the 7:00 am game in ESPN’s Annual Tipoff Marathon. He followed it up with a game-high 27 points at the ACC’s Wake Forest, connecting on six three-point field goals including three key daggers in the second half to help the Gaels maintain their advantage. English helped lead the Gaels to their first-ever win over an ACC opponent in an ACC building.
English saved his best performance for last, scoring a career-high 37 points in a 78-58 win at Conference USA’s North Texas. He scored 26 points in the second half, shot 52.2% from the field and converted 10-of-12 free throw attempts. In the final two games, English also led the Gaels with eight rebounds while recording five assists vs. Wake Forest and four against North Texas.
English follows teammate Schadrac Casimir as MAAC Weekly Award winners in 2014-15. The freshman earned MAAC Rookie of the Week accolades last week following his debut performance in Maroon & Gold. It was the first MAAC Player of the Week honor who was a MAAC Rookie of the Week three times as a freshman in 2013-14. Under head coach Tim Cluess, Iona has been recognized with 25 Players of the Week and six Rookies of the Week by the MAAC.
The Lou Henson Award is presented annually to the top mid-major player in Division I college basketball. The award is named in honor of Lou Henson who retired after a spectacular coaching career that lasted 41 years. When he left the game in 2005 he was sixth all-time in career Division I wins with 779. He is the winningest coach at both Illinois and New Mexico State. He is one of only 12 coaches in the history of the game to take two schools to the Final Four. Both English and senior David Laury are on the Henson Award Watch List and were named to the Lou Henson Preseason All-America Team.
Each week CollegeSportsMadness.com recognizes a player from each of the 32 NCAA Division I conferences in addition to the top national, high-major and mid-major performers.
The Gaels are in action twice this week, at home Wednesday (Nov. 26) vs. Delaware State and on the road with the similarly high-octane Arkansas Razorbacks Sunday (Nov. 30) in Fayetteville, AR.