UMBC

Jerrell Dinkins

Brian Hodges

Boston-Two UMBC men’s basketball players were selected to the America East winter all-academic team, the conference announced Wednesday. Eleven UMBC fall athletes overall were named to their respective squads.

Senior Jerrell Dinkins (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes) and sophomore Brian Hodges (Upper Marlboro, Md./Bishop McNamara) represent the Retrievers. Dinkins was second on the team with 5.4 rebounds per game and third with 11.9 points per game, and those stats ranked eighth and 13th, respectively, in the America East. Hodges was second on the team and 11th in the conference in scoring with 11.8 ppg.

Also representing UMBC on the all-academic squads are seniors Adam Blais and Geza Szabo, junior Tim Conway and sophomore Scott Auchter from men’s swimming and diving; seniors Adam Grossman and Aaron Smith and sophomore Aaron James from men’s indoor track and field; and Francine Ward and Jenelle Wilson from women’s indoor track and field.

With its 11 winter all-academic team members, UMBC tied with Boston University for most in the conference. Binghamton University (seven), University of New Hampshire (seven) and University of Maine (six) followed closely behind. University at Albany (five), Stony Brook University (four) and University of Vermont (two) also boasted all-academic members as well.

This marks the first time the America East has named All-Academic teams for each of its winter sports. The All-Academic squads are a product of the June 2005 Athletics Director meetings. Faculty representatives and athletics directors from each of the conference’s nine member institutions decided to honor some of the league’s top athletes that are also quality students.

Each All-Academic Team has been selected based on the student-athlete’s academic and athletic accomplishments. Academic achievement for consideration requires student-athletes to have a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 3.00 entering the season. Athletic accomplishment standards vary between team sports and individual sports. For team sports, student-athletes are required to be a nomination on the post-season awards ballot, which is determined by the league’s head coaches. For track and field and swimming and diving, student-athletes are required to be a top-three finisher at the conference championship meet. Team size for team sports is based on the number of athletes that participate in a contest at one time (e.g., five on the court for basketball). In the event that the number of student-athletes meeting the requirements is greater than the number that participate in a contest at one time, all-conference vote totals were used as the tie-breaking criteria. Team size for individual sports is determined by the number of all-conference honorees who possess the minimum academic requirement.

2006 America East All-Academic Men’s Basketball Team
Olli Ahvenniemi, Maine
Jerrell Dinkins, UMBC
Brian Hodges, UMBC
Martin Klimes, Vermont
Shaun Wynn, Boston U.