Dylan Richter's Player of the Year Honor Highlights All-UAA Team
ALL-UAA TEAM | INTERVIEW
Rochester, N.Y., February 29, 2012 – Senior guard Dylan Richter earned 2012 University Athletic Association (UAA) Player of the Year accolades to highlight three Washington University in St. Louis student-athletes named to the all-UAA Men’s Basketball Team, as announced Wednesday by the league office.
Richter is the ninth player in school history to be named UAA Player of the Year. In addition to Richter taking home first-team honors, sophomore forward Chris Klimek earned second-team honors and sophomore guard Tim Cooney picked up honorable-mention accolades.
“What a great thrill and well-deserved honor for Dylan to be named UAA Player of the Year,” said head coach Mark Edwards. “He has been such a big part of our success both on and off the court. Dylan has proven to be as strong a leader as he is a basketball player. He joins a very talented and very select group of former UAA players of the year. This being the Silver Anniversary of the UAA makes this honor even more meaningful.”
Richter leads the team and is fifth in the UAA averaging 16.4 points per game. He also leads the team with 67 three-pointers made. Richter scored 20 points on Feb. 3, 2012, at the University of Rochester, becoming the 20th member of the 1,000-point club. He had a career-day in a win over No. 4 ranked Emory University on Jan. 29, 2012, scoring a career-high 33 points on nine three-pointers. Richter has appeared in 100 career games for the Bears scoring 1,080 points, 19th most in school history. He also ranks ninth in three-pointers made with 144.
Klimek emerged in the second half of the season and finished second on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg), while ranking fifth in the UAA in field goal percentage (.546). He has scored in double figures in 16 of 19 games played this season, and dropped in a career-best 22 points at Brandeis University on Feb. 17.
Cooney started 20 of 25 games this season at the two-guard position averaging 6.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He also ranked ninth in the UAA in steals (1.1 spg). Cooney scored in double figures four times this season, including a career-high 19 points in a win over the University of Chicago on Jan. 7.
Washington University (19-6) won its 11th overall UAA title after posting a 13-4 conference mark. Washington U. will host the first and second rounds of the 2012 NCAA Division III Championship on Friday-Saturday, March 2-3, at the WU Field House. The 19th-ranked Bears meet Buena Vista University on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in first round action.