St. John's University Athletics
Ponds, LoVett Honored by Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association
4/24/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
QUEENS, N.Y. - Following a freshman season that saw them emerge as one of the top young backcourt tandems in the nation, Shamorie Ponds and Marcus LoVett have been recognized by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association for their efforts.
After setting the program's freshman scoring record, Ponds was named the All-Met Rookie of the Year and garnered a spot on the All-Met First Team. LoVett, who led the team with 3.8 assists per game and ranked second on the squad 15.9 points per outing, found a spot on the All-Met Second Team.
Ponds becomes the 12th player in St. John's history to win the All-Met Rookie of the Year Award and the first since JaKarr Sampson in 2013. The Brooklyn native joins some esteemed company in garnering this accolade, ascending to the ranks of St. John's legends Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, Mark Jackson, Malik Sealy, Felipe Lopez and Moe Harkless among others.
This past season, Ponds put together one of the most remarkable rookie campaigns in program history, setting the freshman scoring record with 573 points and ranking fifth in the conference, first among freshmen, with 17.4 points per game. Nationally, the Brooklyn native finished fifth among freshmen in scoring, trailing only Washington's Markelle Fultz, Kentucky's Malik Monk, NC State's Dennis Smith Jr. and The Citadel's Preston Parks. Ponds recorded double figures in 30 of the team's 33 games and scored 20 or more points on 11 occasions, highlighted by a career-high 29 points in the team's regular season finale against Providence. In addition, he ranked fifth in the conference with a free throw percentage of 82.3.
Not only a threat on the offensive end, Ponds also established himself as one of the league's top defenders by leading the BIG EAST with 2.1 steals per game, becoming the first freshman since Providence's John Linehan in 1998-99 to do so.
One of the most electric young guards in the nation, LoVett exploded onto the scene in 2016-17 after redshirting the previous year. The Fort Wayne, Ind., native finished ninth in the conference in scoring at 15.9 points per game and ranked fourth in the BIG EAST in assists with 3.8 helpers per contest. In 30 appearances, LoVett reached double figures 26 times and tied the school's freshman record with a pair of 30-point efforts, a mark set by Harkless in 2011-12. LoVett also ranked in the top 10 in the conference in steals with 1.3 per outing and converted on 80.3 percent of his free throws, good enough for sixth in the league.
Led by Ponds and LoVett, St. John's orchestrated one of the nation's most impressive turnarounds, claiming seven conference victories after winning just one BIG EAST game in 2015-16. In addition to handing Syracuse its worst-ever loss in the Carrier Dome with a 33-point shelling on Dec. 21, the Johnnies also notched their best win in terms of national rankings at Carnesecca Arena since 1983, defeating then-No. 13/13 Butler on Dec. 29.
Ponds and LoVett will be presented with their awards on Wednesday night at the 84th Annual NIT/MBWA All-Met Haggerty Awards Dinner in Tarrytown, N.Y.
