By Brian DePasquale

Jamar Wilson /Photo by Bob Ewell

Wilson Named America East Rookie of the Year
Jamar Wilson has been selected the America East Conference Rookie of the Year in men’s basketball, as announced March 8 by the conference office. Wilson, a freshman, was also named second-team all-conference. Levi Levine, a 6’6” freshman, and Wilson were both voted to the America East All-Rookie Team.

Wilson, who is the second UAlbany player to earn all-conference recognition since the school joined the league in 2001-02, ranked second among the A-East scoring leaders at 18.9 points per game. In addition, he was second in field goal percentage (.488), second in free throw percentage (.815) and eighth in assists (3.3 pg). He scored 20-plus points 12 times, including 30 or more in four contests.

Wilson, a 6’1” guard, was named the America East rookie of the week five times this season and was the conference’s player of the week February 17 after averaging 34.5 points in two victories. He established school freshman records for single-game (39) and single-season scoring with 500 points. The season scoring standard had stood for 47 years, as Gary Holway had 497 in 1955-56. Wilson is the ninth player in school history to reach the 500-point mark in a season.

Levi Levine /Photo by Bob Ewell

Levine ranked eighth in scoring (13.2 ppg), 11th in rebounding (6.0 pg), sixth in blocked shots (0.68 pg) and tied for seventh in steals (1.57 pg) among the America East leaders. He was in the starting lineup in all 28 games this season, and scored in twin figures 24 times. The freshman tallied a career-high 24 points against Long Island in December. Levine twice was chosen as the conference’s rookie of the week during the season. He finished the season with a 15-game, double-figure scoring streak.

McGinlay & Hutcheson on All-Conference Basketball Team
Jess McGinlay and Danielle Hutcheson have been chosen to the America East all-conference women’s basketball team, as announced March 12 by the league office. McGinlay and Hutcheson, a pair of second-team selections, are the first UAlbany players to earn all-conference recognition since the school joined the league in the 2001-02 academic year.

Jess McGinlay /Photo by Bob Ewell

McGinlay, a senior co-captain, ranked sixth in the America East in scoring at 15.2 points per game. She led the league in three-point field goals made (2.63 pg), and was third in both free throw percentage (.848) and three-point percentage (.406). McGinlay, of Burke, Va., broke or tied several school records, including three-pointers in a season (71), career three-point field goals (152), single-game three-pointers (7) and single-season points by a senior (411). McGinlay, a four-year letter-winner, finished fourth on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,109 points.

Hutcheson, a 6’4” center, was seventh among the America East leaders in scoring with a 13.9 average, was third in rebounding (9.4 pg), and third in blocked shots (1.22 pg). She was also third in double-doubles with 11 and fifth in field goal percentage (.472). A native of Phoenix, Ariz., Hutcheson finished her second year as a collegian with 375 points and 253 rebounds. Both single-season totals were school records by a sophomore. She earned America East player of the week honors in January with a 16-point, 11-rebound performance against Binghamton.

Danielle Hutcheson Photo by Bob Ewell

UAlbany completed the season with a 9-18 record, including 3-13 in conference play. The Great Danes registered a five-win improvement and bettered their league record from the previous season under first-year head coach Trina Patterson.

Roche & Covert Shine At IC4A/ECAC Track Meet
Teresa Covert finished second in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2003 ECAC Women’s Indoor Track and Field Championships at Northeastern University’s Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center March 7-9. The Great Danes tied for 29th in the team standings.

Covert, a senior from Susquehanna, Pa., was edged by Villanova’s Yolanda Malcolm at the finish line, as both sprinters were clocked in 8.55 seconds. In the preliminaries, Covert established a school record in the event by posting a time of 8.44. Jennifer Aubin placed 10th in the triple jump with a leap of 39-feet, one inch.

At the IC4A Championships, Paul Roche finished second in the pentathlon, as Albany placed 24th in the overall team competition. Roche, a senior from Niskayuna, N.Y., shattered his own school record with 3,709 points at Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center. He was the most outstanding male field performer at the America East Conference championships in February.

Kristof Molnar was sixth in the finals of the 800-meter run with a time of 1:52.29. He had previously captured the America East Conference 800 indoor title for the second consecutive year. In the high jump, senior Naron Stewart cleared a height of 6-feet, 9-inches to finish seventh in that event.

Banda Hired As Women’s Soccer Coach

Head women's soccer coach Kalekeni M. Banda Photo by Bob Ewell

Director of Athletics and Recreation Lee McElroy announced March 19 the hiring of Kalekeni M. Banda as head women’s soccer coach. Banda, who has coached on the collegiate level since 1980, becomes the second full-time coach in the UAlbany program’s history.

Banda, a two-time NSCAA national coach of the year, has coached both men’s and women’s soccer programs during his career. He previously was the head men’s coach at the University of Wisconsin, as he brought stability to the program during his five-year tenure. The Badgers improved to the point where they posted a pair of 10-win campaigns in 2000 and 2001. He coached seven All-Big Ten Conference and seven All-Great Lakes Region players.

Banda, who has guided teams to post-season play 10 times and coached 25 All-Americans, previously was the head men’s coach at Amherst College in Massachusetts for seven years. He reshaped the program, reached the second round of the NCAA tournament in his fourth season, and was named the 1993 New England Intercollegiate Soccer League (NEISL) Coach of the Year. Banda also took the Lord Jeffs to the NCAAs two years later.

As the women’s soccer head coach at the University of Massachusetts, Banda put together his greatest successes. From 1982-87, the Minutewomen appeared in six consecutive NCAA tournaments, including five straight national semifinals. UMass was the runner-up in 1987 after losing to North Carolina in the championship. His team posted a 20-2-0 overall record, and he received his second national coach of the year award. Banda ranks among Division I’s top women’s coaches in career-winning percentage (.806) and victories with a 125-20-10 record. At Massachusetts, he coached 20 All-Americans, as well as 31 All-New England players. He was a three-time NSCAA/New England Region coach of the year award recipient. For his efforts, Banda was inducted into the UMass Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.

A native of Malawi, Africa, Banda has also been successful as a collegiate track and field coach at both Amherst and Massachusetts. As the women’s coach at UMass and both the men’s and women’s track coach at Amherst, he was responsible for one national champion, 16 NCAA qualifiers and 50 school records.

Banda, 51, participated in both soccer and track and field at the University of Massachusetts, where he received a B.S. in physical education in 1975. He returned to his native country to take the position of sports officer and coach at the Ministry of Sports and Culture. Banda also served as coach of several Malawi National Olympic teams for a three-year period before returning to the U.S. in 1979.

The son of a Malawi diplomat to the United Nations, Banda also has ties to the State of New York. He attended Mamaroneck High School in Westchester County, lettering in both soccer and track and field.