Four members of the Hobart College basketball team were honored by the Statesmen Athletic Association and the Hobart Athletics Department at the annual Block H Awards Dinner on May 3. Sophomore forward
Matt Pebole was presented with the Bob Ford Basketball Award as the team’s most valuable player.
Junior guard
Tim Llewellyn received the Statesmen Basketball Award, while junior guard
Brian Burbank was honored with the Kent Butler Basketball Award, and first-year guard
Stefan Thompson took home the Rookie Award.
A unanimous first team All-Liberty League pick, Pebole led the conference in scoring with 18.9 points per game. He also ranked third in field goal percentage (.537), sixth in free throw percentage (.805), and seventh in rebounding (6.5/g). Pebole collected D3hoops.com All-East Region first team, ECAC Upstate All-Star second team, and NABC All-East Region second team accolades as well, after nabbing the Liberty League Forward of the Week award nine times. Pebole enters his junior season with 745 career points and 286 rebounds.
Llewellyn earned All-Liberty League praise after breaking Hobart’s career record for steals. In the Liberty League Championship game, he broke his own mark for steals in a season, raising the program standard to 78. Llewellyn led the conference and ranked 11th in the nation with 2.82 steals per game. He also ranked seventh in the Liberty League in 3-point field goals made (50, 1.79/g), 11th in assists (2.68/g), and 15th in scoring (10.1 ppg). Llewellyn was named the conference’s Guard of the Week three times.
Burbank received the Kent Butler Basketball Award as the team’s most improved player. His hard work and dedication to the team paid off, making him a key contributor on both the defensive and offensive ends of the floor. Burbank’s minutes more than doubled this winter as he played in 21 games, matching his career total at the start of the year. Burbank earned his first start vs. Potsdam State, which the Statesmen won 64-56. He pulled down a season-high six rebounds in a win vs. Union, and totaled a season-high eight points and three assists against Vassar. Burbank added 15 steals and four blocks on the season.
The unanimous choice for the Liberty League Rookie of the Year, Thompson also took home the department’s
Abe Solomon Memorial Award as Hobart’s Rookie of the Year. He set a new Hobart standard for points in a season by a first-year with 420, shattering the previous mark by 119. He finished the season ranked fourth in the Liberty League in scoring (15.0 ppg), field goal percentage (.532), and free throw percentage (.842), fifth in assists (3.29/g), and ninth in steals (1.36/g). Thompson was also named the D3hoops.com East Region and ECAC Upstate Rookie of the Year.
The Statesmen posted a 17-11 overall record this winter and earned the program’s sixth postseason bid with a berth in the ECAC Upstate Tournament. Hobart’s 17 victories is the third-highest win total in program history. The Statesmen finished second in the Liberty League Tournament, after advancing to the league championship game for the first time since 2000-01.