Iona College Sophomore, Nelly Junior Joseph, and Graduate student, Tyson Jolly, both earned Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association awards for their performances during the 2022 campaign. 

Jolly was selected for the MBWA All-Met First team, while Junior Joseph was selected for the second team. 

The award was Jolly’s fifth of the season after earning the 2022 MAAC Player of the Year, All-MAAC First Team, NABC All-District and USBWA All-District honors. Jolly, a transfer from SMU, was also the second highest scoring player in the 3X3 National Championships in New Orleans during the NCAA Final Four. 

The Gaels had a successful regular season finishing with a 25-6 record and the one seed in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) but were disappointingly knocked out of the MAAC Championships after losing to the nine seed, Rider 70-71 in the first round. Despite this, both Jolly and Junior-Joseph were key reasons why the Gaels played so well in the regular season. 

Looking at Jolly’s statistics for the season, it is easy to understand why he is being recognized for his performances. Jolly averaged a team-high of 14.6 points per game, shooting a 43.6% field goal percentage and 37.4% three-point percentage. Jolly also averaged 5 rebounds and 2 assists per game for the Gaels on their way to the first seed in the MAAC regular season. 

Junior-Joseph, a Nigeria native, also notched his fourth award of the season with an All-Met selection after First Team All-MAAC selection, NABC and USBWA All-District honours. Junior-Joseph averaged 13 points a game,  8 rebounds and shot 54.8% from the field for the Gaels. Junior-Joseph was also the MAAC Rookie of the year in the 2020-2021 season and has established himself with his ability to block the ball, averaging two blocks a game. 

There are 69 colleges that make up the MBWA, which are all in the New York Metropolitan area across Divisions I, II and III, including 21 Division I schools. The awards for All-Met teams were honoured at the 89th MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner on Monday, April 25, at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, New York. 

Iona men’s basketball has had a lot of All-Met success since 2011. The Gaels have the most All-Met First Team honours of any team. In total, 14 players have combined for 20 All-Met First and Second team selections since 2011, including 16 First Team selections. 

Under previous Gaels Head coach, Tim Cluess, both Scott Machado and Lamont Jones won the top performer award in the Metropolitan Area. The other 12 players to be selected to the All-Met team include Mike Glover, Sean Armand, A.J English, Jordan Washington, Rickey McGill, E.J Crawford, Isaiah Ross and now Tyson Jolly and Nelly Junior-Joseph.