MBB: Saint Joseph's Sweeps Major Awards; All-Conference Teams Released By Conference Office
WINTHROP, Mass. – The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) announced its 2025-26 Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams and major award winners on Tuesday afternoon.
Voting was conducted by the league's 13 Men's Basketball head coaches following the regular season and did not take postseason play into account.
Saint Joseph's (Maine) capped off an amazing conference season as they took home all of the Major Awards this year. Remijo Wani took home Player of the Year honors while Wani Donato collected Defensive Player of the Year honors as the pair won their second consecutive awards. Davis Mann claimed this year's Rookie of the Year while Tyler Ackley was named Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.
The New England College Men's Basketball team was the recipient of the Institutional Sportsmanship award.
The full list of All-Conference honorees and the representatives on the All-Sportsmanship Team can be viewed below.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Remijo Wani, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Remijo Wani collects his second consecutive Player of the Year after leading the Monks to an undefeated record in conference play (12-0). The junior from Portland, Maine averaged a league-best 24.8 points a game in conference play (23.3 points overall, which is 17th best in DIII), including a league-best 46 threes made (68 total) in 22 appearances this season. Wani also averaged 7.8 rebounds a game in GNAC play for Saint Joseph’s College. He would be the offensive maestro to a Monks team that averaged 90.1 points in conference play as Wani had multiple games this year with 25+ points, with his best coming against Rivier in a double OT win in which he scored 42 points. Remijo would win POTW twice this season and was just named Tournament MVP last weekend after leading the Monks to their second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Wani Donato, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Wani Donato finished his career with his second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award after the Portland, Maine native boasted 1.5 blocks per game in GNAC play, which was good for third in the league as well as totaling 42 blocks on the year (second in conference) while collecting 2.0 steals a game in conference play. The senior had multiple games of 2+ blocks and multiple games of 2+ steals. Donato was also instrumental on the glass, eliminating the opposing second chances to score while giving the Monks extra opportunities to score as he had nine games with double-digit rebounds, averaging 7.5 on the season. He was named Player of the Week twice this past year and was named to the All-Tournament team this past weekend.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Davis Mann, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Davis Mann was a crucial part of an experienced Saint Joseph’s College team as the freshman from Falmouth, Maine averaged 13.9 points (11.9 in conference) and 5.2 rebounds per game in 27 minutes per night. Mann was a workhorse on the offensive glass, collecting 71 offensive rebounds on the season for the Monks, which was good for third in the league. The six-time rookie of the week was also very reliable at the free-throw line as he shot a league-best 86.2% from the line, which was good for 35th in the nation.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Tyler Ackley, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Tyler Ackley earns his second consecutive Coach of the Year honors after he led the Monks to an undefeated season in GNAC play (12-0; 20-8 overall). SJC was yet again an elite offense, scoring 90.1 a game in the conference (85.6 overall) largely due to a fast-paced offense that took and made the most shots in the league (47.4% from the floor in conference), especially from the three (39.6% in GNAC). On the defensive end, Ackley’s group only allowed 71.3 points a game in conference action (second-best) while controlling the glass and leading the league with 44.8 rebounds in conference with another league-leading rebounding margin of 12.7. They earned the leagues Automatic Qualifier after winning this past weekend’s postseason tournament and head to the NCAA’s to play this Friday (March 6th) against Babson.
2025-26 Men's Basketball All-GNAC Teams
Major Awards
Player of the Year: Remijo Wani, Saint Joseph’s (Maine)
Def. Player of the Year: Wani Donato, Saint Joseph’s (Maine)
Rookie of the Year: Davis Mann, Saint Joseph’s (Maine)
Coach of the Year: Tyler Ackley, Saint Joseph’s (Maine)
Institutional Sportsmanship of the Year: New England College
First Team
Remijo Wani, Saint Joseph’s (Maine)
Ta’zhon Daniels, Albertus Magnus
Lence Altenor, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Esmer Madesko, Lasell
Wani Donato, Saint Joseph’s (Maine)
Second Team
Friedrich Feldrappe, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
John Paul Frazier, Saint Joseph’s (Maine)
Mahari Guerrier, Emmanuel
Ray Ford, Jr., Albertus Magnus
Robenson Baguidy, Rivier
Third Team
Michel Ndayishimiye, Norwich
Izaiah Shaw-Glen, Rivier
Isaiah Earl, Albertus Magnus
Jayquan Kirkland, Albertus Magnus
Jamir Harvey, Regis
All Sportsmanship Team
Peter Szpakowski, Albertus Magnus
Tobey Bellows, Colby-Sawyer
Cedric Louis, Dean
Max Rolnick, Elms
Jacob Williams, Emmanuel
Quinton Partee Jr., Lasell
Brandon Lee, Mitchell
Kyle Dzarnowski, New England College
Mohammed Kanneh , Norwich
Gehrig Brynda, Regis
Matt Youngquist, Rivier
Kolbyn Dunphe, Saint Joseph’s (Maine)
Friedrich Feldrappe, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
ABOUT THE GREAT NORTHEAST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 14 member institutions and over 4000 student-athletes across the New England region. Founded in 1995, the GNAC annually sponsors and administers 20 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunity and community involvement in an effort to enhance the student-athlete experience.
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