The CIAA Announces Men’s and Women’s All-Conference Honors, Player and Defensive Player of the Year

February 23, 2005

Luqman Jaaber captures the 2004-2005 Defensive Player of the Year. Jaaber of Virginia Union University leads the CIAA in steals with 77 and averages 3.2 a game. He also leads the conference in free throws with 90 percent. He is third in the conference in assists with 4.2.

Allyson Hardy of Bowie State University is the 2004-2005 Women’s Basketball Player of the Year. Hardy, a senior from Germantown, MD, leads the CIAA in scoring and free throw percentage. She averages 22.0 points per game. Her field goal percentage is 44.4 percent and free throw percentage is 86.4 percent.

The 2004-2005 Defensive Player of the Year is Shaw University’s own Jessica Hawkins who captured this title last year. Hawkins, a senior from Raleigh, North Carolina leads the CIAA in field goal percentage and steals. She shoots 59.4 percent from the field and averages 4 steals a game.

The Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year Philip Stitt of Winston-Salem State University lead his team from a fifth place 2004 finish to a clinch the Western Division regular season title. Jacques Curtis of Shaw University captures the Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year. This is his third year going into the tournament at the top of the Eastern Division and has clinched the tournament title for the last two years.

The All Conference Teams and Players of the Year will be formally honored at the Women’s and Men’s Tip-Off Banquets. Both banquets will be held at the Embassy Suites-RDU in Cary on Sunday, February 27 and Tuesday, March 1, 2005 at 6:30pm, respectively.