Juskin Named 2004 Men's Basketball Most Valuable Player

by Sports Information
5/26/04

LANCASTER, PA - All-Centennial Conference (CC) center Steve Juskin (Sr., East Hanover, NJ/Hanover Park) has been named the 2004 Franklin & Marshall College Men's Basketball Most Valuable Player

The 2004 Edward Garrigues '25 Men's Senior Athlete of the Year, Juskin became the 14th basketball player to earn the Senior Athlete of the Year award, following Bob Zink (1950), Walt Lenz (1953), Henry Eberle (1955), George Darrah (1959), Robert Penney (1966), Donnie Marsh (1979), J. Allen Taylor (1983), Terry Scott (1988), Will Lasky (1992), Ed Plakens (1993), Dave Jannetta (1995), Jeremiah Henry (1996) and Alex Kraft (2002).

A three time All-CC honoree following a second team nod in 2002 and first team honors in 2003 and 2004, Juskin tallied 426 points, 187 rebounds, 105 assists and a school and Centennial Conference record 114 blocked shots this year as he earned D3hoops.com second team and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) honorable mention All-America honors.

A 2004 Street & Smith's Division III Preseason All-America Honorable Mention selection, and a 2003 and 2004 D3hoops.com All-Mid Atlantic first team selection, he became the ninth player in school history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

Further, he concluded his career among F&M's best as he ranks among the all-time leaders in points (sixth - 1,444 points), rebounds (fourth - 727) and blocked shots (first - 330) while appearing in 114 and starting 111 games.

The February 2 Centennial Conference Player of the Week and the ninth player in school history to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds, he holds the Centennial Conference record in blocked shots as his total is 119 swats more than the total of runner-up Cam Scribner '03 of Haverford (211).

One of two Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) second team all-star selections this year with point guard Duran Searles (Sr., Camden, NJ/Peddie School), the senior trio of Searles, Juskin and guard Jackiem Wright (Sr., Sicklerville, NJ/Moorestown Friends) made history as they join the Classes of 1989 (Phil Hoeker, Brad Markey, Brian Menet), 1992 (Will Lasky, Mark Maggionacalda, Chris Finch) and 1995 (Mike Sievert, Charlie Detz, Dave Jannetta) as only the fourth class to have three 1,000 point scorers.

In addition they become the second highest scoring trio in school history with 3,783 combined points, 330 more than the trio of Detz, Jannetta and Sievert (3,453 points), and 410 less than the school record trio of Lasky, Maggioncalda and Finch (4,193 points).

Ranked #6 in the final D3hoops.com poll, the Diplomats captured the Centennial Conference Championship and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament where they advanced to the NCAA "Elite Eight"

Overall, the tournament berth marked the 19th in the history of men's basketball at the College as the team earned NCAA bids in 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1986-1996, 1999 and 2000, including appearances in four Final Fours (1979, 1991, 1996, 2000).

F&M, which knocked off Hampden-Sydney 78-76 in the round of 32, defeated Gwynedd Mercy (92-72 W) in the "Sweet 16", but fell to Amherst 82-70 in the "Elite Eight" to conclude the season among the top eight teams in the nation.

For F&M, which concluded the year with the 19th 20-win season under head coach Glenn Robinson (674-235), the team's 26-4 record (17-1 in Centennial Conference play) marked the program's best mark and highest winning percentage (.867) since the 1996 team concluded the year 29-3 (.906) in the NCAA "Final Four".