Senior guard Loren Stokes (Buffalo, NY - pictured) was one of 16 players chosen to the Preseason Men's Basketball All-America team by collegeinsider.com, it was announced this week. Junior guard Antoine Agudio (Huntington Station, NY), meanwhile, was one of 25 players named to the Preseason Mid-Major All-America team.
Stokes is coming off a season which saw him average 17.4 points per game, while leading the Pride to a 26-7 record and a berth in the NIT quarterfinals. Stokes is on pace to finish his Hofstra career with 2,000 points, 600 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals, which would rank him in the top 15 in school history in all four categories. He is a two-time first-team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection and was one of 50 players who were named preseason candidates for the Wooden Award, given to the top player in all of NCAA Division I. He was also named the CAA Preseason Player of the Year at the conference's annual media day on Oct. 26.
Other players on the College Insider All-America team include Arron Afflalo (UCLA), Morris Almond (Rice), Corey Brewer (Florida), Glen Davis (LSU), Jared Dudley (Boston College), Jeff Green (Georgetown), Tyler Hansborough (North Carolina), Jarrius Jackson (Texas Tech), Dominic James (Marquette), Joakim Noah (Florida), Brandon Rush (Kansas), Sean Singletary (Virginia), Ronald Steele (Alabama), Rodney Stuckey (Eastern Washington) and Alando Tucker (Wisconsin). Stokes and Stuckey were the only two players from mid-major schools on the 16-man team.
Agudio, meanwhile, was right behind Stokes for the team lead in scoring at 17.2 points per game, while breaking his own school record for three-pointers in a season with 91. Agudio became the first sophomore in school history to reach the 1,000 point plateau and enters 2006-07 needing only 19 three-pointers to tie the school record as only a junior. He was a second-team All-CAA selection and was chosen first-team preseason All-CAA at media day this year.
Stokes and Agudio are part of the highest scoring three-man backcourt combination in the country heading into this season, along with senior Carlos Rivera (San German, PR). The threesome combined to average 46.3 points per game last year, over three points more than the second place trio from Loyola (Ill.). Stokes and Agudio were also the first Hofstra teammates to ever score over 500 points in the same season last year.
Hofstra opens its 2006-07 schedule when it plays an exhibition game against New York Tech on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Pride begins its regular season schedule with a road game at Charlotte on Saturday, Nov. 11.
