RICHMOND, Va. – For the second consecutive year, William & Mary juniors Nathan Knight and Justin Pierce were selected All-Colonial Athletic Association, and law student Paul Rowley took home the league's most prestigious honor, the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award. Knight became the program's eighth All-CAA First Team selection, while Pierce garnered third-team accolades for the second season in a row.
 
Freshman Chase Audige became the 10th player under head coach Tony Shaver and the 22nd for the Tribe to be selected to the CAA All-Rookie Team. Knight added CAA All-Defensive Team honors for the second-straight season becoming the fifth W&M player to be recognized defensively on multiple occasions.
 
The Dean Ehlers Leadership Award recognizes the player that, "embodies the highest standards of leadership, integrity and sportsmanship in conjunction with his academic and athletic achievement." Rowley is the sixth Tribe player in the last 10 years under Shaver to earn the honor. The Tribe's six honorees equal the most in CAA history with UNCW.

 
 
Knight, who is the sixth All-CAA First Team pick under Shaver, has enjoyed an exceptional junior campaign. He is averaging 21 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.2 blocked shots per game and is the first player in college basketball to average those numbers since Tim Duncan at Wake Forest in 1996-97. Knight's scoring average is the highest for a W&M player since 1968, while his 630 points rank fifth in program history. He leads the CAA in blocked shots and ranks third in scoring, fourth in field goal percentage, fifth in rebounding and eighth in assists.
 
During CAA play, Knight set a school record with three-straight 30-point games, including a career-high 39 at regular season champion Hofstra on Feb. 9. He tallied 11 double-doubles on the year, which ranks 36th nationally and are the most at W&M since 1992-93. Knight has been even better in CAA play, averaging 22.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.7 blocked shots per game. His scoring average was the second highest in W&M history. 

 

A two-year captain, Rowley has been described by his coaches and teammates as the 'heart and soul' of the Tribe. He has excelled at a level rarely seen in Division I athletics academically. In 2017, he graduated magna cum lade from W&M in just three years with a double major in finance and computer science. Last season, he was named the CAA Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year and became the first W&M basketball player since 1912 to be selected to the prestigious Phi Beta Kappa honor society in 2017. Rowley is believed to be the first DI men's basketball player to compete on the court as second-year law student.
 
On the court, Rowley is the Tribe's sixth man, averaging 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. In CAA play, he ranked ninth in the league in blocked shots. Rowley is second on the Tribe's career 3-point percentage list (42.2) and also ranks among the career leaders in blocked shots.
 


Pierce earned All-CAA honors for the second time after averaging 14.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. He is the only CAA player since 1992 to average 10 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game. Pierce ranks among the CAA leagues in nine different categories, including 17th in scoring, third in rebounding and fifth in assists. His rebounding average ranks 43rd nationally, and he tallied nine double-doubles.



Audige earned all-rookie team honors after an impressive freshman season. He was named the CAA Rookie of the Week on three occasions. Audige came on strong in league play averaging 11 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game while shooting 40.3 percent from 3. The 6-4 guard started 19 of 30 games during his rookie campaign, including 17 in CAA play. He ranked fourth in the CAA in steals per game (1.5) and his 44 steals are the second most all-time for a Tribe freshman.
 
Hofstra's Justin Wright-Foreman was selected as the CAA Player of the Year for the second year in a row, while Pride head coach Joe Mihalich garnered the league's coach of the year award.  Desure Buie of Hofstra was selected as the league's defensive player of the year. Charleston's Jarrell Brantley and Grant Riller, Northeastern's Vasa Puscia and Devontae Cacock of UNCW joined Wright-Foreman and Knight on the All-CAA First Team.
 
The second team was comprised of Delaware's Eric Carter, Towson's Brian Fobbs, Stuckey Mosley of James Madison, Hofstra's Eli Pemberton and Elon's Tyler Seibring. Joining Pierce and Buie on the third team were Alihan Demir and Troy Harper of Drexel, Matt Lewis of JMU and Northeastern's Jordan Roland.
 
Sheldon Eberhardt of Elon and Drexel's Camren Wynter were the league's sixth man of the year and rookie of the year, respectively. Joining Wynter and Audige on the all-rookie team were UNCW's Kai Toews, Ithiel Horton of Delaware and JMU's Deshon Parker. Along with Knight and Buie, the CAA All-Defensive Team included Cacok, Hofstra's Jacquil Taylor and Dennis Tunstall of Towson.  
 
The Tribe is the No. 4 seed in the 2019 CAA Championship presented by Jersey Mike's Subs and meets No. 5 seed Delaware in the quarterfinals on Sunday, March 10. Tip-off is set for 2:30 p.m. from the North Charleston Coliseum. The game will be streamed online at CAA.TV.
 
Tribe fans can catch the men's basketball action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley and Charlie Woollum on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM and 107.9 Bach FM are the flagship stations of the Tribe Radio Network and the audio is also available over the Web at TribeAthletics.com.

It's March which means it's time to get prepared for the CAA Tournament in Charleston by visiting TribeAthletics.com/MarchOnTribe.