NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Ta'zhon Daniels (New Haven, Conn.) of the Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team was named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) First Team. Ray Ford, Jr. (Jersey City, N.J.) was named to the second team, while Jayquan Kirkland (Stratford, Conn.) and Isaiah Earl (Hamden, Conn.) were named third team selections as the conference announced its major awards and all-conference teams for the 2025-26 season.
Daniels made his second consecutive appearance on the All-GNAC First Team. This year, he averaged career-highs in points at 21.3, rebounds at 3.3 and steals at 2.1 per game, while also averaging 3.3 assists. He ranked second in the GNAC in points per game and total points (510). He also made the most free throws on the season (126) and was ranked sixth in total steals with 50.
Daniels had 11 games of 20 or more points, seven games of 30 or more, and two games of over 40 points. In a 98-84 win over Baruch on December 13th, Daniels scored a career-high 44 points on 16-for-22 shooting, including 5-for-6 from three. He followed that up with a 38-point performance against UMass-Dartmouth in a 100-82 win on December 30th at the Trinity Holiday Tournament.
In a 98-91 overtime win over Lasell on February 14th, he scored 41 points, including the game-tying free throws to send the game into overtime with 1.5 seconds left.
He was also named to the GNAC All-Tournament team for the second time in his career, including a 21-point performance against Regis in the quarterfinals and a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds against the University of Saint Joseph (Conn.).
Daniels finished his career at Albertus with 1,446 points, ranking him sixth all-time in program history.
Ford, Jr. made the All-GNAC team for the second time in his career, as he was named to the third team in 2024-25. He averaged 16.2 points per game, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, which were all career-highs.
His 84.8 free-throw percentage ranked him second in the GNAC, while his 66 three-pointers and 114 assists both ranked him fourth in the GNAC. His 51 steals were good for fifth in the conference.
Ford, Jr. had 12 games of 20 or more points in a game this season, including 25 points while going 6-for-11 from three with six assists and four rebounds in a 104-67 win over Dean on February 17th. He also scored 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting with seven rebounds and four assists against New England College in a 105-65 win on January 17th.
He made five threes in games against Colby-Sawyer, Elms, and No. 10 Montclair State. Ford, Jr. also averaged 19 points and eight assists in the GNAC Tournament, including 17 points and a career-high 11 assists against Regis in a quarterfinals win.
Kirkland made his first appearance on the All-GNAC team after averaging a career-high 15.5 points and 3.8 rebounds per game while shooting 40.3 percent from three.
His 56 three-pointers ranked him seventh in the conference, while his three-point percentage ranked him eighth in the GNAC.
He had six games with more than 20 points, including a career-high 33 points of 14-for-21 shooting against Saint Joseph College of Maine on January 31st. In a 95-71 win over Rutgers-Newark, Kirkland scored 31 points, going 7-for-8 from three and 11-for-13 from the field overall.
Kirkland also had 26 points with six threes against Babson and a 27-point performance against Rivier.
Earl made his first appearance on the All-GNAC team, averaging 13.8 points per game, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, and 1.6 steals per game. He shot 40 percent from three.
Earl topped the GNAC in total blocks with 46, while finishing fourth in free throws made with 101, and ninth in total rebounds with 180 and 10th in steals with 42.
He had six games with 20 or more points, including a career-high 29 points on 11-for-15 shooting with nine rebounds, two blocks, and three steals against New England College in a win on January 17th.
Earl notched a double-double with 16 points, 19 rebounds, and four blocks in a win over Mitchell on February 11th. Earl had six games of three or more blocks, including two five-block performances in wins over Rivier and Colby-Sawyer.
Peter Szpakowski (Ridgefield, Conn.) was named to the GNAC All-Sportsmanship team for the Falcons. He notched a career-high in points with 12 and rebounds with nine in a win over Colby-Sawyer on February 21st.
Major Awards
Player of the Year: Remijo Wani, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Def. Player of the Year: Wani Donato, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Rookie of the Year: Davis Mann, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Coach of the Year: Tyler Ackley, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Institutional Sportsmanship of the Year: New England College
First Team
Remijo Wani, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Ta'zhon Daniels, Albertus Magnus
Lence Altenor, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
Esmer Madesko, Lasell
Wani Donato, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Second Team
Friedrich Feldrappe, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
John Paul Frazier, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Mahari Guerrier, Emmanuel
Ray Ford, Jr., Albertus Magnus
Robenson Baguidy, Rivier
Third Team
Michel Ndayishimiye, Norwich
Izaiah Shaw-Glen, Rivier
Isaiah Earl, Albertus Magnus
Jaquan Kirkland, Albertus Magnus
Jamir Harvey, Regis
All Sportsmanship Team
Peter Szpakowski, Albertus Magnus
Tobey Bellows, Colby-Sawyer
Cedric Louis, Dean
Max Rolnick, Elms
Jacob Williams, Emmanuel
Quinton Partee Jr., Lasell
Brandon Lee, Mitchell
Kyle Dzarnowski, New England College
Mohammed Kanneh , Norwich
Gehrig Brynda, Regis
Matt Youngquist, Rivier
Kolbyn Dunphe, Saint Joseph's (Maine)
Friedrich Feldrappe, University of Saint Joseph (Conn.)
