College Men’s Basketball Roundup: Hoops stars shine at next level

Former Trinity Catholic basketball star Schadrac Casimir got the March Madness experience for the second consecutive year and former Wilton star Eric Houska concluded a very good career for Colorado College to highlight the many accomplishments of former FCIAC players for their respective men’s college basketball teams this past winter

The accomplishments of the former conference players are listed underneath their former high schools, with those high schools listed in alphabetical order.Names of the players included here were provided by the coaches from FCIAC teams.

Click the player names for bios from their college websites.

Danbury

Marcus Fox started in 17 of the 22 games he played for Emmanuel College. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound freshman forward averaged 9.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 21.4 minutes per game.

Fairfield Ludlowe

Thomas Duffy, a 6-foot-3, 165-pound sophomore guard, was the leading scorer for Suffolk University in Boston. Duffy averaged 16.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game while starting in all 27 games.

He had a .468 field goal percentage and a .371 percentage on three-pointers. Duffy has averaged 12.1 points during his two-year career thus far.

Matt Doyle averaged 10.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game as a 6-foot-4, 200-pound junior for Denison University. He started in 25 games and played in all 27 games. Doyle had shooting percentages of .434 from the field, .371 on three-point shots and .849 from the free throw line.

Fairfield Warde

Marcel Parsons was a 6-foot, 170-pound freshman guard who saw action in five games for The College of New Jersey.

JJ Conway played in 11 games as a 6-foot-2, 175-pound freshman guard at Hartwick College.

Greenwich

Conor Harkins averaged 8.8 points as a 6-foot-3 backup freshman guard for Swarthmore College. Harkins had quite the debut on Nov. 15 when he hit 9-of-16 three-pointers and scored a career-high 27 points in a 111-89 victory over Hood in the season opener.

Leoneal Hyatt averaged 5.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 26.7 minutes while starting in 29 of 30 games as a 6-foot-6, 210-pound junior forward who helped Eastern Connecticut State University have an excellent 26-4 season.

New Canaan

Claude Chandonnet averaged 5.5 points and 20 minutes per game for Denison University. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound junior appeared in all 27 games and started in 10 of them.

Tyler Sweeney saw action in eight games as a 6-foot-3 freshman guard for Occidental University.

Norwalk

Roy Kane, Jr. started in six of 27 games as a 6-foot-6, 216 pound sophomore for the University of New Haven. Kane averaged 6.8 points and 4.9 rebounds, third most on the team. He hauled down a career-high 15 rebounds against Pace, which was part of his only double-double of the season, and he scored a season-high 15 points against Bentley.

Kane racked up 1,590 points and 1,039 rebounds during his fabulous career at Norwalk High. He was an All-State selection in 2013-14 and 2014-15.

St. Joseph

Omar Telfer was a 6-foot, 177-pound freshman guard who averaged 1.3 points and 12.9 minutes per game while starting in three of 22 games for Post University.

Cam Menefee averaged 1.5 points and 8.1 minutes played per game in 19 games as 6-foot, 175-pound freshman guard for Rhode Island College.

Jack Moulder played in 15 games and averaged 2.7 points as a 6-foot-4, 180-pound freshman guard for Emmanuel College.

Trinity Catholic

Schadrac Casimir once again got to be involved in March Madness this year. The 5-10, 165-pound junior guard was a key contributor toward helping Iona win its third consecutive Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament, where the Gaels lost to Duke by an 89-67 margin to finish with a 20-14 record.

Casimir started in 22 of the 33 games he played in and was fifth on the team with his scoring average of 10.4 points per game while averaging 27.2 minutes per game.

He was Iona’s leading scorer for the game six times, including on Feb. 23 when he fired in a season-high 30 points to lead the host Gaels to an 88-75 victory over Manhattan. He also led them with 24 points in their 65-62 victory over St. Peter’s in the semifinals of the MAAC Tournament on March 4.

Casimir surpassed the 1,000-points milestone late in the season as he now has 1,112 career points in 106 games for an average of 10.5 ppg.

Tyrell St. John averaged 10.1 points and 23 minutes per game in 28 games played as a 6-foot, 200-pound sophomore guard at Fitchburg State. It was his first year at Fitchburg State after transferring from Western Connecticut State University.

St. John improved immensely during the homestretch of the season and so did his Falcons as he helped them win five of their last six games to finish 13-15. He averaged 16.5 points, including scoring a season-high 20 points twice, in those last six games of the season.

Trumbull

Rashard Rodriguez was a 6-foot-5, 195-pound junior forward who has already been named a Western Connecticut State University team captain for the upcoming 2018-19 season. Rodriquez averaged 12.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 29.1 minutes while starting in all 27 games.

JJ Pfohl averaged 5.1 points and 22.7 minutes per game as a 6-foot-3 freshman guard for Roger Williams. He played in 27 games and started in five of them.

Westhill

CJ Donaldson led Rhode Island College in scoring with a 12.0 points per game average. The 5-foot-8, 155-pound sophomore also had 116 rebounds and team-best numbers with 101 assists and 43 steals in 29 games played.

Wilton

Eric Houska put the wraps on a very good career at Colorado College. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound senior guard started in all 26 games and averaged 17 points, 5.5 assists and 39.2 minutes per game.

Houska, who scored a season-high 25 points against Texas Lutheran, had 1,307 career points and averaged 12.8 points throughout his career in which he had 83 starts in 102 games.

Matt Shifrin averaged 13.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 29.8 minutes per game while starting in all 25 games as a 5-foot-10, 165-pound junior guard for Kenyon College.

Shifrin, the team leader in scoring average and total assists (63), scored a season-high 23 points in a game three times and he had 22 points in a game twice.

He was one of 16 players selected to the 2017-18 All-North Coast Athletic Conference team and among the six named Honorable Mention.

Iona’s Schadrac Casimir in action for the Iona Gaels. — Iona Athletics/ICGaels.com photo

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