The Colgate men’s basketball team recently honored its senior class and passed out team awards at its annual team banquet.
The Jack Mitchell Academic Award for academic success and passion was given to senior Nathan Harries. The Economics and Spanish double major holds an impressive 3.71 cumulative grade point average and has exemplified what it means to be a Colgate student-athlete throughout his time in the Maroon and White.
Harries is a three-time Patriot League and Raider Academic Honor Roll member and has accepted a job with prestigious Goldman Sachs upon graduation.
Harries battled through injuries for nearly his entire career, but never stopped working and was voted as a team captain for the 2016-17 season. When his health allowed, the Alpharetta, Ga. native stepped up on the court during his final season, tallying four double-digit scoring efforts and seeing action in 21 games.
The Jack Bruen Award for the team’s most improved player was awarded to both first-year Will Rayman and sophomore Sam Lindgren. Rayman earned Patriot League Rookie of the Year laurels following a standout first-year campaign that saw him average a team-best 14.6 points per game. The New York, N.Y. native led all Patriot League Rookies with an average of 14.9 points per game in league contests. He tallied 23 double-digit scoring efforts, including seven 20-plus point games.
Lindgren showed a large increase in consistency in practice throughout the season. He saw action in six games as a sophomore, scoring points against Union, Binghamton, Bucknell and Lehigh.
For the second-straight year, the Hasan Brown Award was given to senior Andrew Bargmann. The honor acknowledges a student-athlete for his dedication and passion to the program with a team-first attitude. Bargmann battled through injuries throughout his Raider career, but was still voted as a team captain during his senior season. He provided a crucial spark off the bench as a senior, seeing action in 22 games.
The final award of the night was the Bob Duffy-Tucker Neale Most Valuable Player Award, which was given to junior Sean O’Brien. The guard started all 32 games for the Raiders, finishing with season-long marks of 12.5 points per game and team-best marks of 132 assists and a 89.6 free-throw percentage. O’Brien wrapped up his junior campaign with a 46.3 field goal percentage and 40.7 percent mark from three-point range. The junior captain tallied 21 double-digit efforts throughout the season.
Following the awards presentation, the program’s three seniors (Ryan Diew, Bargmann and Harries) took time to reflect on their careers at Colgate.
The Raiders finished the 2016-17 season with a 10-22 overall record and 8-10 mark in Patriot League play. Colgate earned the No. 5 seed in the Patriot League Tournament and fell to eventual championship contender Lehigh in the quarterfinals.
Colgate will welcome back 14 letterwinners for the 2017-18 season in addition to bringing in a talented bunch of newcomers. The Raiders return 93 percent of their point production from the 2016-17 campaign as well as just over 90 percent of minutes played.