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Tuesday, March 8, 2005
SMITH NAMED TO ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Senior selected to Little East men’s basketball second team
WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Senior men’s basketball player Jeroy Smith 
(NEW HAVEN) has been named to the Little East Conference all-conference second team.
The 6-foot-4 inch, 260-pounder started all 24 games for the 8-16 Warriors, leading or sharing the team lead in 14 categories, including scoring (12.5), rebounding (8.4) and average minutes (30.8). Smith shot 50 per cent (106-212) from the floor and 71.8 per cent (89-for-124) from the line.
A total of 11 players were recognized with all-conference honors: six on the first team and five on the second team. All eight conference schools were represented with a selection, with five schools having a first-team pick. Senior center Brice Assie of regular-season co-champion and tournament titlist Western Connecticut State University – who led the conference with a field goal percentage of 66.4 – was named Player-of-the-Year. Massachusetts Boston freshman forward Alberto Paniagua earned Rookie-of-the-Year accolades and first-year Rhode Island College head coach Jack Perri was named Coach-of-the-Year.
In the conference this year, Smith ranked third in rebounding,
ninth in field goal percentage, 12th in free throw percentage and tied for 15th in scoring.
Smith had five double-doubles during the season, most notable among them a 17-point (6-for-7 from the floor), 12-rebound effort in a 79-71 win over Massachusetts Boston in the final home game of his career Feb. 19. In a 68-63 home loss to Gordon College Jan. 3, Smith scored a season-high 22 points and the 12-rebound effort against UMass Boston equaled his season-high, which he had first established in a 116-114 triple overtime win over Westfield State in the championship game of the Nancy K. Sulinski ’76 Memorial Basketball Tournament Nov. 20 at Geissler Gym
Smith’s best shooting performances during the year included a 7-for-9 showing Jan. 11 in a 68-67 conference home win over Massachusetts Dartmouth (his final bucket proving to be the game-winner with 2.0 seconds left) and an 8-for-11 effort in an 84-70 conference road loss to Western Connecticut , which included 18 points and nine rebounds.
Smith was a three-year starter at Eastern after spending the 2000/01 season at Westfield State College. He appeared in all possible 76 game at Eastern, starting 64 games and averaging 10.1 points, 7.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists. He shot 51.3 per cent from the floor and in his last two years, shot 70.6 per cent from the free-throw line. Including one season at Westfield, Smith appeared in 100 collegiate games – missing only one – and scored 831 points (8.3 ppg.) and grabbed 593 rebounds (5.9 rpg.).
Smith is Eastern’s 24th all-conference selection in 19 years of conference competition.
