ST. LOUIS - Vermont head coach John Becker and freshman Anthony Lamb earned 2016-17 U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) District I honors on Tuesday, based on the voting from its national membership of 900-plus. The District I region consists of schools in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.
 
RELATED LINKS
USBWA Release
 
Becker was named USBWA District I Coach of the Year and Lamb was tabbed to the USWBA All-District I Team.
 
Becker adds his second Coach of the Year award to his trophy case after he was unanimously picked as the America East Coach of the Year by his peers last week. In his sixth season at the helm, Becker guided Vermont to an America East Regular Season title and set the program record for best start, longest overall and conference winning streak, and most wins. The 2016-17 Cats also broke the conference record for most victories and were the only America East team to record a 16-0 undefeated conference season in the league's history. UVM's bench boss posted his sixth straight 20-win seasos and owns the most wins by an America East coach through his first six seasons.
 
Lamb had an impressive rookie campaign which included an America East Rookie of the Year nod. Lamb earned seven Rookie of the Week selections from the conference – the most by a Vermont player in program history. The freshman leads the team in scoring at 12.6 points per game and ranked second in conference play with 19 blocks this season. The 6-6 forward has tallied seven straight double-digit outings and 12 of the last 14 games. Lamb also landed on the All-Conference Second Team and All-Rookie Team. In the America East Tournament, the Rochester, N.Y. native has averaged 23.5 points and has drained 79.2% (19-for-24) of his attempts.
 
Top-seeded Vermont will host third-seeded Albany on Saturday (March 11) in the 2017 America East Championship game. All UVM men's basketball games can be heard on ESPN 101.3 FM and online at 1013ESPN.com with Sam Hyman on the call. Visit UVMathletics.com for game and ticket information.
 
Canon Solutions America is the presenting sponsor of the 2016-17 men's basketball season
 
USBWA COACH OF THE YEAR
District I: John Becker, Vermont
District II: Jay Wright, Villanova
District III: Roy Williams, North Carolina
District IV: Mike White, Florida
District V: Matt Painter, Purdue
District VI: Bill Self, Kansas
District VII: Tim Jankovich, SMU
District VIII: Eric Musselman, Nevada
District IX: Mark Few, Gonzaga
 
USBWA  ALL-DISTRICT I
Jalen Adams, UConn
Evan Boudreaux, Dartmouth
Rodney Bullock, Providence
*Kyron Cartwright, Providence
Anthony Lamb, Vermont
Tanner Leissner, New Hampshire
Hassan Martin, Rhode Island
E.C. Matthews, Rhode Island
Jerome Robinson, Boston College
Steven Speith, Brown
Nisre Zouzoua, Bryant
 
*All-District I Player of the Year