Falcon Awards Banquet: Men's Basketball

On Tuesday, May 4, 2017, the Falcons packed the gymnasium at the L. Gale Lemerand Center for Daytona State College's annual athletics awards banquet. Students, coaches, parents and staff enjoyed a great evening with catering from Carrabba's Restaurant and a bevy of awards honoring our top student-athletes for the 2016-17 season.

It was a very successful year on the field, in the classroom, on the court, at the course and on the pitch. Every one of the Falcons' eight varsity athletics programs finished with a record at .500 or above for the year. Six of the DSC athletic squads received Top 20 national rankings this year including women's volleyball, men's soccer, women's soccer, women's golf, men's basketball and women's fast pitch softball. Seven of our teams qualified for postseason play. Eleven student-athletes received first-team conference honors this year, with many additional honorees receiving second and third team recognitions as well.

Men's basketball finished the year 25-7, 7-2 in conference play, earning its fourth-straight Mid-Florida Conference Championship. The Falcons spent seven weeks nationally ranked in the NJCAA Division I Top 25 and advanced to the semi-finals of the FCSAA State Tournament. Nashad Mackey earned high honors as the Mid-Florida Conference Player of the Year and Falcons' head coach Ryan Ridder was named Mid-Florida Conference Coach of the Year.

Thirty-three of our student-athletes are moving on to four year universities in the fall, with several more still undecided. It is our greatest pride to see our Falcons leave the nest and soar on to their next chapter. We wish all of our graduating sophomores the best and thank parents, coaches, staff and faculty for supporting another stellar season in Falcon athletics.

MEN'S BASKETBALL ACCOLADES

L. GALE LEMERAND LEADERSHIP AWARD WINNERS

This award recognizes a student-athlete annually for his/her outstanding leadership, commitment to all responsibilities as a student-athlete, setting a positive role model example for all student-athletes, demonstrating a concern for and desire to help others and a desire to further develop and enhance the Daytona State College intercollegiate athletic program. 2017 Award winners (left to right): Nashad Mackey (men's basketball); Amanda Nikhazy (women's softball) and Gage Hutchinson (men's baseball) with Dr. Thomas LoBasso, President of Daytona State College.

Alston Jones Defensive Player of the Year	Dinero Mercurius Offensive Player of the Year	Nashad Mackey Student Athlete of the Year Scholar Athlete of the Year	Rashaard Pringle Falcon Award