Marietta College’s Jason Ellis goes up for a bounce during a college basketball game earlier this season at the Ban Johnson Arena. Photo by Rebecca Wheeler
KANSAS CITY, Missouri – Marietta College men’s basketball enjoys a record season and with success on the court comes an abundance of awards and honors. The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) announced some of their awards Wednesday afternoon and three pioneers deserved recognition.
Senior Jason Ellis was named to the 2022 NABC Division III Al-America First Team.
He becomes just the second pioneer to be named as the first All-American team, joining AJ Edwards. In addition, he was named first team NABC All-District 7 and was also named Player of the Year in District 7.
“Jason deserves these awards so much. He’s one of the hardest working players I’ve trained at Marietta, and he’s made himself one of the top players in the country. Marietta head coach Jon VanderWal said. “Jason is back for a fifth year with the goal of leading us to a national championship and he is one of the main reasons that we are in a position to achieve that goal.”
Only five other pioneers have earned All-American honors in the history of the men’s basketball program. Quinny Carter ’80 was a third team NABC choice in 1980, Jesse DuPerow ’02 earned fourth team honors from D3hoops.com in 2002, Trevor Halter ’12 won NABC second team and D3hoops.com fourth team awards in 2011 , Garrett Stephenson’s 15 earned fourth team honors from D3News in 2014-15, and Edwards earned four All-American honors in his career, including a pair of First Team awards.
Ellis leads the pioneers averaging 17.4 points per game this season. He is currently fourth on Marietta’s all-time scoring list with 1,560 career points. Ellis also leads the pioneers in three points (79), free throw percentage (93.5%), defensive rebounds (99), assists (104) and steals (48).
The list of honors Ellis has earned this season is impressive. He was named Hall of Fame D3hoops.com Preseason All-America; first team All-Region 7 of D3hoops.com with their All-America teams not yet announced; Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Year; first team All-OAC; OAC Tournament All-Tournament Team; Roanoke Tipp-Off Tournament All-Tournament Team; and was named OAC Player of the Week twice.
Senior Lukas Isaly earned second team NABC All-District 7 honors. Isaly is second in the Pioneer squad, averaging 16.1 points per game. He is 23rd on Marietta’s all-time scoring list with 1,165 career points. Isaly leads the team in three-point shooting (43.8%) and is second in three-point shooting (78) and assists (91).
“Lukas is a great player. Anyone who has witnessed what he has done at BanJo in the last three weeks understands how special he is. VanderWal said. “Luke is the engine that drives our team. It all starts with him.”
Isaly’s honor roll this season includes the first team All-Region 7 from D3hoops.com with their All-America teams yet to be announced; first team All-Ohio Athletic Conference; OAC Tournament Most Valuable Players; OAC Tournament All-Tournament Team; Roanoke Tipp-Off Tournament All-Tournament Team; Great Lakes Invitational All-Tournament Team; and was once named OAC Player of the Week.
VanderWal was named the NABC District 7 Coach of the Year. This is the fourth District Coach of the Year award in the VanderWal career. He led the pioneers to the OAC Regular Season and Tournament Championships.
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