The accolades continue to roll in for Centennial Conference men's basketball, as Swarthmore's Vinny DeAngelo and Nate Shafer and Johns Hopkins' Conner Delaney received national honors for D3hoops.com on Tuesday night. DeAngelo was named the National Rookie of the Year while Delaney (third team) and Shafer (fourth team) were two of just 25 players across the country to earn All-America laurels.
DeAngelo is the first known student-athlete from any Swarthmore program to be named the top freshman in the country. The freshman from nearby Aston, Pennsylvania, earned the starting point guard spot in his 10th game of the season. He scored in double figures his first two games with the Garnet and had 18 games in total this season with at least 10 points. He averaged 11.6 points per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the floor, a Centennial Conference leading 47.7 percent from the 3-point line and 84.9 percent from the free-throw line. During the season, he sank 21 consecutive free throws.
Shafer averaged 10.5 points per game, 7.6 rebounds, 2.2 blocks, 2.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game in 2019-20 and graduates as the program's all-time leader in blocked shots (248). He ranks second all-time in rebounds (798) and 24th in points with 1,014. Swarthmore (28-1) won a Centennial Conference record 26 consecutive games this season and were ranked No. 1 overall in the country for the entire season. Head coach Landry Kosmalski was previously recognized by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as the National Coach of the Year.
JHU's Delaney, a junior point guard, added another All-America honor to his resume as he earned third team accolades from D3hoops.com. Delaney was previously named a First Team All-American by the NABC. He is the first player in program history to earn All-America honors from both organizations. The CC Player of the Year and Middle Atlantic Player of the Year from both the NABC and D3hoops.com, Delaney led Hopkins to a 24-4 season, the Centennial Conference Championship and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Delaney averaged 17.5 points, 4.9 assists and 1.6 steals to lead the Blue Jays. He is the first true point guard in JHU history to lead the team in all three categories. Delaney led the Centennial Conference in points (490), assists (136), field goals (179) and field goal attempts (373). He also ranked second in free throw attempts (129), third in steals (46) and fourth in free throws (87) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0).