ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - The record-breaking season for the 2019-20 Saint Peter's men's basketball team continued today, as the squad collected four out of the five major awards during the annual Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Postseason Awards Show at Adrian Phillips Theatre in Atlantic City. Saint Peter's became the first program in conference history to win four total major awards in the same season. Headlining the major award winners was head coach
Shaheen Holloway, who in just his second season at the helm of the Peacocks earned The Rock MAAC Coach of the Year. Sophomore forward
KC Ndefo was named as both the MAAC Defensive Player of the Year and Sixth Player of the Year, while freshman guard
Aaron Estrada claimed MAAC Rookie of the Year honors.
Holloway became the third head coach from Saint Peter's to win the conference's top coach award, joining Bob Dukiet (1982) and Ted Fiore (1987, 1989, and 1991). The honor came in just his second season after he guided the Peacocks to a 17-12 overall record and 14-6 MAAC mark, good enough for a second-place finish. The 14 league wins under Holloway tied the program record for most conference victories in a season and the team's nine MAAC home wins are the most ever by the program. Saint Peter's also won 11 games at the Yanitelli Center in 2019-20, the most in almost 30 years, having last been done in 1990-91. Holloway's squad led the conference during the regular season in defensive field goal percentage, offensive rebounds, offensive rebounding percentage, rebounding margin, and blocked shots. Additionally, he coached a program record of four Peacocks to five All-MAAC honors, a MAAC record three freshmen to the All-Rookie Team, and a league-record five individual freshmen to MAAC Rookie of the Week awards.
Two days after being named to the All-MAAC Third Team, Ndefo picked up Saint Peter's second Defensive Player of the Year award (Chazz Patterson 2017) and the program's first ever Sixth Player of the Year honor. He joined elite MAAC company, becoming only the third player in league history to win two major awards in the same season, accompanying Rider's legend and former NBA first round draft pick Jason Thompson (player and defensive player in 2008) and Peacock all-time leading scorer and Hall of Famer Keydren "Kee Kee" Clark (long distance shooter and rookie in 2003). Ndefo led Saint Peter's in scoring (8.5), rebounding (5.2), offensive rebounding (2.0), blocks (2.4), and steals (1.5) in his second season in Jersey City. His 2.4 blocks per game and 66 total blocked shots ranked 23rd and 25th in the nation, respectively, and he was the only player in the MAAC this season to rank top-10 in both blocks and steals on the conference leaderboard.
Estrada claimed MAAC Rookie of the Year accolades on the heels of being voted to the All-MAAC Third Team and a unanimous selection to the All-Rookie Team. He became the fifth Peacock to be named the league's best freshman, joining Harun Ramey (1992), Ricky Bellinger (1997), Clark (2003), and Shane Nichols (2004). Estrada was also the first Peacock since Clark in 2003 to be selected to the All-Rookie team and one of the three All-MAAC teams in the same year. During the season, he averaged 8.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while only playing 19 minutes per game. Estrada led Saint Peter's in scoring a team-best eight times, scoring in double-figures in 11 games during his first season in a Peacock uniform. He was a three-time MAAC Rookie of the Week honoree and he was the only Peacock this season with four consecutive games in double-figures, achieving the accomplishment during the team's five-game winning-streak during the month of February.
The trio and the second-seeded Peacocks open play in the 2020 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championship quarterfinals tonight at 9:30 p.m. against No. 7 Iona at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
