The Northeast Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year is an annual award given to the Northeast Conference's (NEC) most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1982–83 season, when the league was known as the ECAC Metro Conference.

The most well-recognized NEC Player of the Year is Marist's Rik Smits, who won the award in both 1987 and 1988. Smits went on to have a successful National Basketball Association (NBA) career for 12 seasons (1988–2000), all with the Indiana Pacers. In 1998, Smits was named an Eastern Conference All-Star. In 2021–22, Alex Morales of Wagner became just the fourth NEC player to be named player of the year for two consecutive seasons, and the first since Charles Jones of Long Island University in 1997 and 1998.

LIU has the most winners with eight, all of whom represented Long Island University's Brooklyn campus before the school merged the athletic programs of its Brooklyn and Post campuses in July 2019. Central Connecticut is second with seven. All charter members of the Northeast Conference that are still members have had at least one winner.

Key † Co-Players of the Year* Awarded a national player of the year award that same season:UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96)Oscar Robertson Trophy (1958–59 to present)Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present)John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present) Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the NEC Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Season Player School Position ClassReference 1982–83 Marist SG 1983–84† Robert Morris SG St. Francis (NY) F Long Island PF 1984–85 (2) Long Island PF 1985–86 Wagner SG 1986–87 Marist C 1987–88 (2) Marist C 1988–89 Robert Morris G 1989–90 Fairleigh Dickinson F 1990–91 Saint Francis (PA) PG 1991–92 Robert Morris SG 1992–93 Rider SG 1993–94 Marist SF 1994–95 Long Island PF 1995–96 Mount St. Mary's PG 1996–97 Long Island PG / SG 1997–98 (2) Long Island PG / SG 1998–99 St. Francis (NY) PG 1999–00 Central Connecticut SG 2000–01 Monmouth PG 2001–02 Central Connecticut F 2002–03 Wagner SF 2003–04 Central Connecticut F 2004–05 Monmouth PF 2005–06 Fairleigh Dickinson SG 2006–07 Central Connecticut SG / PG 2007–08 Robert Morris PG 2008–09 Robert Morris SG 2009–10 Quinnipiac PF 2010–11 Central Connecticut SF 2011–12 Long Island PF 2012–13 Long Island PF 2013–14 Robert Morris SG 2014–15 St. Francis Brooklyn PF 2015–16 Sacred Heart SG 2016–17 Long Island SF 2017–18 Mount St. Mary's PG 2018–19 Saint Francis (PA) PG 2019–20 Saint Francis (PA) PG 2020–21 Wagner SG 2021–22 (2) Wagner SG 2022–23 Saint Francis (PA) PF Merrimack PF 2023–24 Merrimack G 2024–25 Central Connecticut G 2025–26 Central Connecticut SF

Winners by school School (year joined) Winners Years LIU (1981) 8 1984†, 1985, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2012, 2013, 2017 Central Connecticut (1997) 7 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2011, 2025, 2026 Robert Morris (1981) 6 1984†, 1989, 1992, 2008, 2009, 2014 Marist (1981) 4 1983, 1987, 1988, 1994 Saint Francis (PA) (1981) 4 1991, 2019, 2020, 2023† Wagner (1981) 4 1986, 2003, 2021, 2022 St. Francis Brooklyn (1981) 3 1984†, 1999, 2015 Fairleigh Dickinson (1981) 2 1990, 2006 Merrimack (2019) 2 2023†, 2024 Monmouth (1985) 2 2001, 2005 Mount St. Mary's (1989) 2 1996, 2018 Quinnipiac (1998) 1 2010 Rider (1992) 1 1993 Sacred Heart (1999) 1 2016 Bryant (2008) 0 — Chicago State (2024) 0 — Le Moyne (2023) 0 — Loyola (MD) (1981) 0 — Mercyhurst (2024) 0 — New Haven (2025) 0 — Siena (1981) 0 — Stonehill (2022) 0 — UMBC (1998) 0 —

Footnotes

In addition, one charter member, Towson University (then Towson State University), left after the conference's first season of 1981–82, before the player of the year award was created. The Tigers left for the East Coast Conference, and are now in the Coastal Athletic Association.

References