2011-12 RSEQ men's basketball major awards and all-stars announced

MONTREAL - RSEQ is pleased to announce its men’s university basketball individual award winners and all-star teams for the 2011-2012 season.

Concordia Stingers forward Evens Laroche (Montreal, QC) is the most outstanding player, while Éric Côté-Kougnima (Gatineau, QC) of the UQAM Citadins is honoured as the defensive player of the year for the third consecutive season.

Fourth year forward Evens Laroche captured the league’s top honour as the most outstanding player after posting the second best points per game average in the conference with 14.1.  The 6-4 human relations student was a stud on the charity stripe, finishing the campaign with an 84.5-percent efficiency and dominated on the boards, hauling in 7.4 rebounds per game.  The former Dawson College also proved his defensive prowess, leading the RSEQ with 2.9 steals per game.
 
Also in his fourth year, forward Éric Côté-Kougnima (Gatineau, QC) became the first player in the history of RSEQ men’s university basketball to three-peat as the defensive player of the year. The 6-4 business administration student led the league with 5.4 defensive rebounds per game and finished second behind Laroche in steals with 2.6 per contest. Côté-Kougnima also averaged 2.8 assists while playing 33.5 minutes per game.

Bosnia native Boris Hadzimuratovic (Sarajevo, Bosnia) is the RSEQ rookie of the year after leading with league with 8.5 rebounds per game. The first year mechanical engineering student was second in field goal percentage, draining 48.6-percent of his shots while finishing third in the conference with 1.1 blocks per game.

Fourth year sports studies student Tim Hunter (Baie d’Urfé, QC) of the Bishop’s University Gaiters is this year’s recipient of the RSEQ leadership and social involvement award and thus becomes the league’s nominee for the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) Ken Shield Award as the student-athlete who best demonstrates excellence on the field of competition, in the classroom and in the community. Hunter has captained the Gaiters for the past three seasons and lead the team in scoring with 13.2 point per game in 2011-2012. The 6-7 forward runs the Alexander Galt Regional High School Christmas basket fundraiser, raising several thousands of dollars for the program. He also the Gaiters roadblock to raise funds for the Quebec Heart & Stroke Foundation and is a volunteer with the Townshippers. Hunter has also been instructor in the Gaiters’ “Small-Ball” program for the last four years.

Long time Concordia Stingers bench boss John Dore has been honoured for the 14th time as the RSEQ coach of the year award after leading the Concordia Stingers to a first place finish with a 14-2 record. In his 22nd season at the helm of the Stingers, Dore has positioned the Stingers to challenge for their 13th conference crown since taking over the reigns of the team back in 1989-90. This year, the Stinger racked up 1,102 points in 16-games while dominating on the glass, pulling in 14.4 rebounds per game. Concordia also led the league with 11.5 steals and 12.0 assists per game.

Mike Homsy was named the official of the year.

Time for the Final Four!
The Stingers will host the Laval Rouge et Or in the first of the RSEQ playoffs semi-finals, Wednesday at 7 pm at Concordia University, while McGill will host the UQAM Citadins. This season Concordia swept Laval in regular season competition, while the Redmen took three of four from UQAM.

The winners of Wednesday’s semi-finals will meet in the title game on Saturday night with the champions heading to Halifax for the 2012 CIS Final 8 that run from March 9 to 11 at the MetroCentre.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Evens Laroche, Concordia, Human Relations, Montreal, Dawson College

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
**Éric Côté-Kougnima, UQAM, Business, Gatineau, QC, Cégep de l’Outaouais

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
**Boris Hadzimuratovic, Laval, Mechanic Engineering, Sarajevo (Bosnia), Cégep de Sainte-Foy

RSEQ LEADERSHIP & SOCIAL INVOLVEMENT AWARD
**Tim Hunter, Bishop’s, Sports Studies, Baie d’Urfe, QC, John Abbott College

COACH OF THE YEAR
**John Dore, U. Concordia

OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR
Mike Homsy

FIRST ALL STAR TEAM

Position, name, school, study program, hometown, last team
Forward, Evens Laroche, Concordia, Human Relations, Montreal, Dawson College
Forward, Gregory St-Amand, UQAM, Administration, Laval, QC, Collège Montmorency
Forward, Tim Hunter, Bishop’s, Sports Studies, Baie d’Urfe, QC, John Abbott College
Guard, Éric Côté-Kougnima, UQAM, Business, Gatineau, QC, Cégep de l’Outaouais
Guard, Karim Sy-Morissette, McGill, Management, Montreal, Dawson College

SECOND ALL STAR TEAM

Position, name, school, study program, hometown, last team
*Forward, Kyle Desmarais, Concordia, Economics, Montreal, Central Connecticut State
Forward, Decee Krah, Concordia, Marketing, Hamilton, ON, Cathedral HS
Forward, Tristan Renaud-Tremblay, McGill, Kinesiologiy, Montreal, The Citadel/Champlain College
Centre, Boris Hadzimuratovic, Laval, Mechanic Engineering, Sarajevo (Bosnie), Cégep de Sainte-Foy
Guard, Xavier Baribeau, Laval, Business, Quebec City, Cégep de Sainte-Foy

ROOKIES ALL STAR TEAM

Position, name, school, study program, hometown, last team
Centre, Boris Hadzimuratovic, Laval, Mechanic Engineering, Sarajevo (Bosnia), Cégep de Sainte-Foy
Forward, Thibaud Dezutter, Laval, Biology, Namur (Belgium), Collège Édouard-Montpetit
Forward, Vincent Dufort, McGill, Physical & Health Education, Smiths Falls, ON, Smiths Falls HS
*Guard, Jerome Blake, Concordia, Sociology, Montreal, Vanier College
Forward, Mitchell Pierman, Bishop’s, Exercise Science, Perth, ON, Perth D.C.I.

* Bursary recipient with the Fondation de l’athlète d’excellence du Québec
** Unanimous choice

-RSEQ-