WALTHAM, Mass. – Coming off one of their biggest wins in recent history, the Brandeis University men's basketball team has earned recognition from numerous national outlets. The Judges appeared on ESPN's Top 10 Plays of the Day, returned to the D3hoops.com national poll for the first time in seven years, and were honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and Hoopdirt.com.
"Our guys have worked incredibly hard this season to get where they are right now," said second-year head coach Jean Bain. "It's great to see it paying off with this kind of recognition. We still have a long way to go, but I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish so far."
Over the weekend, the Judges improved to 11-3 on the season with a pair of University Athletic Association victories. On Friday night, the Judges led wire-to-wire in a 76-54 victory over the University of Rochester. On Sunday afternoon, hosting Emory University, ranked #3 in Division III at the time, senior Eric D'Aguanno of Saunderstown, Rhode Island, hit a last-second shot to defeat the Eagles, 75-73. D'Aguanno's shot was featured at #7 in the ESPN Top 10 Plays of the Day (at 0:51 below), while sophomore center Nolan Hagerty of Yarmouth, Maine, was named the UAA Player of the Week.
Thanks to their two wins, the Judges returned to the D3hoops.com national poll at #24. This marks their first appearance among the top 25 teams in Division III since the 2012-13 season, when they reached as high as #19.
Brandeis was also selected as the NABC Division III National Team of the Week for the first time in program history, while Bain was selected as the Division III Coach of the Week by Hoopdirt.com.
At 11-3, the Judges are off to their best start since that 2012-13 campaign, and they are in search of their first NCAA tournament berth since 2010. Brandeis is on the road this weekend with a pair of UAA contests, including a top-25 matchup with #13 Washington University in St. Louis on Friday evening at 8 p.m. Central time, 9 p.m. Eastern. The Judges and Bears are both unbeaten atop the conference standings at 3-0.