Dover, Del. (Mar. 4, 2012) --- Delaware State University's Jay Threatt (sr., Richmond, Va.) has been named to the 2011-12 All-MEAC First Team, while teammate Tahj Tate (fr., Easley, S.C.) was selected as the Rookie-of-the-Year and to the All-MEAC Second Team, in voting by league head coaches and sports information representatives announced today.
In addition, Delaware State's Marques Oliver (jr., Durham, N.C.) was named to the All-MEAC Second Team, while Tyshawn Bell (fr., Dover, Del.) joined Tate on the MEAC All-Rookie Team.
Threatt topped the MEAC in assists (6.1 pg), steals (3.1 pg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.2), while ranking third in free throw shooting (.816), during the 2011-12 regular season. He's currently tied for first among all NCAA Division I players in steals, tied for 16th in assists and is 24th in assist-to-turnover ratio.
He is the Hornets' first All-MEAC First Team pick since Roy Bright during the 2007-08 season.
Tate's selection as MEAC Rookie-of-the-Year marks the second straight season that a Hornet has claimed the honor, following Casey Walker during the 2010-11 campaign.
A five-time MEAC Rookie-of-the-Week selection, Tate ranked fifth in the league in scoring at 16.0 points per game during the 2011-12 regular season. He's also fifth among all NCAA Div. I freshmen in scoring this season. In addition, Tate is 14th in the MEAC in assists (2.8 pg), 15th in steals (1.2 pg) and eighth in free throw shooting (.764)
Oliver is second in the MEAC in blocks, 16th in scoring (11.5 ppg), eighth in rebounding (7.4 pg), fifth in field goal percentage (.564) this season. He was also a preseason All-MEAC Second Team selection.
Bell averaged 7.4 points per game and was fourth in the league in three-point shooting percentage (.402) and 15th in three-pointers per-game (1.5) during the 2011-12 regular year.
Threatt is joined on the All-MEAC First Team by Norfolk State's Kyle O'Quinn, who was also selected as the Player-of-the-Year, Hampton's Darrion Pellum, Tony Gallo of Coppin State and North Carolina Central's Dominique Sutton.
O'Quinn also earned MEAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors.
Horace Broadnax of MEAC regular season champ Savannah State was selected by his peers as the league's Coach-of-the-Year. Broadnax led the Tigers to a 14-2 league record (21-10 overall) in their first season as an official member of the conference.
Delaware State is the No. 3 seed in the this week's MEAC Tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Hornets will face the winner of the No. 6 Coppin State vs. No. 11 Florida A&M first round match-up in a quarterfinal round contest on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum.
