SUNY Brockport men's basketball Head Coach Joe Clarke was named the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Rochester Area Men's Coach of the Year, while junior's Mekhi Beckett and Zachary Rice were named USBWA Rochester Area First Team, selected by the Rochester Chapter, U.S. Basketball Writers Association on Wednesday.

The Empire 8 Coaching Staff of the Year, led by Clarke, guided the Golden Eagles to a 17-10 overall record and a 14-2 ledger in conference play this past season.  Brockport won the E8 regular season title and hosting rights for the conference tournament.  The green and gold bowed out of the tournament in a tight semifinal loss to visiting SUNY Poly. 
 
Clarke, in his second season as Brockport's bench general, helped lead Bport to a top 50 finish nationally in scoring offense as the Golden Eagles posted 81.7 points per game. The Golden Eagles defense also ranked 21^st nationally in steals per game (10.4) and 40^th nationally in three-point shooting percentage (36.4%). In two seasons, Clarke has guided Brockport to 33 victories and two conference tournament appearances. In his first season at the helm, he placed second in the SUNYAC Conference regular season standings before winning the Empire 8 regular season crown this past year.
 
Mekhi Beckett, who was recently named to the D3hoops.com Region 3 Third Team for the second time in his career, capped his junior campaign as one of the top three-point threats in the nation. He finished the year ranked 20^th nationally and first in the Empire 8 with a 42.1 three-point shooting percentage. He also ranked 54^th nationally with an average of 2.67 three-pointers per game and ranked in the top 100 nationally with 64 three-point field goals made. Beckett capped 1,000 career points this season and became the 25^th player in program-history to join the 1,000 point club at Brockport.  He now ranks 18^th all-time in career points at Brockport, just behind Mark Wadams '00 who capped his career with 1,191 points and currently sits in 17^th place. He led Brockport with an average of 13.0 points per game this season while shooting 43% from the floor. He was also an Empire 8 All-Conference First Team selection and a National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District Second Team selection this Winter.

Brockport's Zachary Rice adds USBWA Rochester Area First team to his resume after being named an Empire 8 All-Conference Second Team pick this Winter.  Rice capped his junior season ranked second on the team with an average of 11.4 points per game while leading Brockport with 159 total rebounds.  He finished second on the team with 62 three-pointers and he also added 31 steals to his credit.