RICHMOND, Va. – William & Mary freshmen Julian Lewis and Tyler Rice were both named to the Colonial Athletic Association All-Rookie Team, the league announced as part of its annual awards on Friday.
 
It marks the second time that multiple Tribe rookies have been recognized in the same season since the league started handing out the award in 1987. During the 1998 campaign, both Jim Moran and Bill Phillips earned CAA All-Rookie Team recognition. In total, 25 Tribe players have earned CAA All-Rookie Team honors, including three under head coach Dane Fischer.
 
Rice is one of the top rookie assist men in the country. He leads all CAA rookies in assists, ranks fifth in the CAA in the category and 14th nationally among first-year players in the country at 3.6 per contest. He is averaging 7.3 points per game, which ranked fourth among CAA rookies. He scored a career-high 16 points in games against Navy and Old Dominion. Rice has scored in double figures on 10 occasions this season, including seven in CAA play.
 
In the Tribe's final game of the regular season, Rice dished out 10 assists at Hofstra, which marked the second most for a Tribe rookie in school history. He also dished out nine assists in the season opener at Wake Forest, the most for a Tribe freshman in a debut. His 108 assists on the year rank 20th in school history and second all-time among W&M freshmen. Rice, who has started 29 of his 30 appearances this season, is second on the team in 3-pointers made (32) and third in minutes played (808) and steals (30).
 
Lewis is one of the top stat stuffing first-year players in the country. He is one of only 15 rookies in the country to average seven points (7.3), four rebounds (4.1) and two assists (2.2) per game. Lewis leads all first-year CAA players in rebounding, while ranking second in assists and fifth in scoring.
 
Lewis was named the CAA Rookie of the Week to kick off the league portion of the schedule. He averaged 12.5 points, eight rebounds and four assists per game in leading the Tribe to wins over Hofstra and Northeastern in the first two CAA games of the year. Lewis appeared in all 31 games with 23 starts. He ranks second on the team in minutes played (836) and assists (68), while coming in third in 3-pointers made (31) and blocked shots (11).
 
Joining Lewis and Rice on the CAA All-Rookie Team were Delaware's Jyare Davis, who was also voted the league's rookie of the year, and the Charleston pair of Ben Burnham and Reyne Smith. The league released its complete All-CAA honors on Friday afternoon in advance of the league tournament led by CAA Player of the Year Aaron Estrada of Hofstra.
 
W&M, which is the No. 8 seed, opens the 2022 CAA Championship presented by Jersey Mike's Subs on Saturday, March 5, in the opening round against No. 9 seed Northeastern. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. from the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. and the game will be broadcast on FloHoops.