James Williams Named to NIT/MBWA Third Team

4/19/06 -- Junior guard James Williams (DeSoto, Texas) was named to the 2005-06 All-Met Division I men’s college basketball third team as presented by the the National Invitation Tournament and the Met Basketball Writers Association on Wednesday evening in a ceremony at the Giants Club.

Williams, a 2005-06 Northeast Conference first team honoree, ranked third in the league in scoring (16.6 ppg) this past season. In addition, he paced the Blackbirds with 3.3 assists per game and chipped in 2.5 rebounds a contest.

The three-year starter and team co-captain finished second in the NEC and 25th in the nation with 3.2 treys a contest. He drained 89 on the year, third-best in a single season in the LIU record book. Williams raised his career 3-point total to 201, just 24 shy of surpassing former Haggerty Award for Player of the Year and Blackbirds standout Charles Jones in the LIU annals.

The Texas product closed 27th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage, hitting at a .418 clip. He was the only LIU player to start all 29 games in the winter.

LIU finished the season with a 12-16 mark, winning four of its last six outings. They fell to eventual NEC champion Monmouth in the tournament quarterfinals. Fifth-year coach Jim Ferry returns his entire starting lineup and 10 letterwinners next season.

The history of the Haggerty Award can be traced back to the early days of LIU basketball. The award, named in honor of Lt. Frank J. Haggerty from St. John's University, was first presented in 1936 to LIU's Jules Bender. The following year, the recipient was another LIU standout of the mid-1930's- Ben Kramer. Since then, LIU had had five players take home the Haggerty Award. Irving Torgoff in 1939, Sherman White in 1950, Albie Grant in 1966, Joe Griffin in 1995 and Charles Jones in 1997.
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FIRST TEAM: Quincy Douby, Rutgers, 6-3, jr, G, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Keydren Clark, St. Peter's, 5-10, sr, G, New York; Steve Burtt, Iona, 6-1, sr, G, New York; Kelly Whitney, Seton Hall, 6-8, sr, F, Chicago; Loren Stokes, Hofstra, 6-3, jr, G, Buffalo; Jared Jordan, Marist, 6-2, jr, G, Hartford, Conn.

SECOND TEAM: Donald Copeland, Seton Hall, 5-10, sr, G, Jersey City, N.J.; Chad Timberlake, FDU, 6-4, sr, G, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Ricky Soliver, Iona, 6-3, sr, G, New York; Bryant Dunston, Fordham, 6-8, so F, Queens, N.Y.; Lamont Hamilton, 6-10, jr, F, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Arturo Dubois, Manhattan, 6-8, so, F/C, New York.

THIRD TEAM: Antoine Agudio, Hofstra, 6-3, so, G, Huntington Station, N.Y.; James Williams, LIU, 5-10, jr, G, DeSoto, Texas; Jason Wingate, Manhattan, 6-0, sr, G, New York; Gordon Klaiber, FDU, 6-9, sr, F, Greenbelt, Md.; Jeff Xavier, Manhattan, 6-0, so, G, Pawtucket, R.I.; Terrence Todd, Fairfield, 6-0, sr, G, Neptune, N.J.

Haggerty Award - Player of the year: Quincy Douby, Rutgers.

Rookie of the year: J.R. Inman, Rutgers.

Coach of the year: Tom Pecora, Hofstra.