Ellis Cooper named to the All-NE-10 Second-Team

RINDGE, N.H. (February 28, 2013) – Franklin Pierce University standout Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) on Thursday was named the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year. It marks the second-straight season the senior guard earned the league’s top honor, and he becomes just the sixth player in conference history to receive it in back-to-back years. 

In addition, Jean-Guillaume was named to the All-NE-10 First-Team for the second time in as many seasons. Jean-Guillaume was not the only Raven to be honored on Thursday as junior forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) received All-NE-10 Second-Team honors for his tremendous play at both ends of the court.

Jean-Guillaume has had an outstanding final campaign in Rindge in 2012-13. He is averaging a team-high 16.4 points per game on an impressive 49 percent shooting from the floor. Jean-Guillaume is also averaging 3.5 assists, 3.3 rebounds and a league-leading 2.4 steals a game. He ranks among the top-15 in the NE-10 in several categories, including: scoring (6^th); field goals made (13^th, 142); field goal percentage (15^th); free throw percentage (5^th, 84.5%); assists (13^th); and assist-to-turnover ratio (12^th, 1.8). His scoring average is even higher in NE-10 games as Jean-Guillaume boasts a 16.6 mark which is the fifth highest average in the conference.

In 24 games played this season, Jean-Guillaume has dropped in double-figures in scoring 18 times, including the last eight games. He has been most lethal during this current eight-game stretch which has seen him register 18 points or more five times. He has averaged 20.0 points per game in that time, including going for 25 points or more in three-straight contests versus Saint Anselm on Feb. 16 (26 points), Bentley on Feb. 20 (25 points) and UMass-Lowell on Feb. 23 (career-high 32 points). Overall this season, Jean-Guillaume has topped 20 points in seven games.

If winning the league’s player-of-the-year award wasn’t impressive enough, the accomplishment becomes much bigger considering the tremendous amount of pressure placed on Jean-Guillaume entering the 2012-13 campaign as the reigning conference player of the year.

The Ravens, who were the defending NE-10 regular season champions, entered this season with a pair of top-10 preseason national rankings, including in the No. 2 spot in the Division II Bulletin preseason magazine released in October. That publication also named Jean-Guillaume its preseason national player of the year in the same issue.

Jean-Guillaume helped Franklin Pierce remain in the national top-25 for most of the season, but was even more impressive was that the Ravens were 5-0 in the regular season against teams which were either ranked or receiving honorable-mention votes at the time of tipoff. The Ravens went 19-7 during the regular season, including 16-6 in the NE-10, good for a fourth overall seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

Jean-Guillaume’s awards from the NE-10 this year marked the third time in his four seasons he was recognized by the conference. In addition to last year’s accolades, he was named to the NE-10 All-Rookie Team during his freshman season in 2009-10.

Cooper was also recognized by the NE-10 for the second-straight year with his second-team honors on Thursdady. As a sophomore last season, he was placed on the All-NE-10 First-Team.

Cooper shook off off-season surgery to remain as one of the top players in the NE-10 in 2012-13. He has started all 26 games for the Ravens and averages 13.4 points, a team-best 6.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

He has scored in double-figures in 21 games this season, including pumping in a season-high 20 points in the regular season finale at Merrimack on Tuesday. Cooper shot 50 percent or better from the field in 19 games and ranked seventh in the conference with a 54.3 shooting clip from the floor. He also logged two double-doubles this season, including 11 points and 12 rebounds in a season-opening win over LIU Post (Nov. 9) and 17 points and 10 boards in a 79-59 win at No. 16 Assumption (Jan. 23).

Cooper ranked among the top-15 in the NE-10 in several statistical categories as well, including: offensive rebounds (12^th, 60); rebounding (14^th); and steals (5^th). His 49 total steals ranked as the fifth most in the league.

Franklin Pierce opens post-season play on Sunday in the quarterfinal round of the 2013 Northeast-10 Conference Championship, as the fourth-seeded Ravens will play host to fifth-seeded Southern Connecticut State at 3 p.m. in The Fieldhouse in Rindge. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for children/senior citizens and $1 for college students with a valid school ID.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s basketball, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce men’s basketball apparel can do so on the athletic department’s online store at athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store(.)