Lukas Flippo

After ending the season as outright Ivy League champions, Yale men’s basketball nearly swept the major conference awards announced Wednesday morning.

Forward Paul Atkinson ’21 received recognition as the Co-Ivy League Player of the Year, guard Jalen Gabbidon ’21 earned the Co-Defensive Player of the Year award and head coach James Jones was named Coach of the Year.

“You always feel like your guys are the best guys,” Jones said. “Or at least I do. For us to be rewarded by our peers is phenomenal. That felt really good for our team to almost sweep all the awards and have all our guys recognized.”

Atkinson shared the award with Penn forward AJ Brodeur, while Brown forward Jaylan Gainey split the honor with Gabbidon. Guard Azar Swain ’21 and forward Jordan Bruner ’20 joined Atkinson on the All-Ivy first team.

Yale has now taken the Ivy League Player of the Year award in four of the last six seasons. Miye Oni won Player of the Year last season, while Justin Sears ’16 earned the honor in 2015 and 2016. The Bulldogs won a league championship in all four years.

“Going into the season, I knew I was going to have to be big on the defensive end of the floor,” Gabbidon said. “The whole year that was my primary focus. To see all the work paying off and to be recognized for that was something really special.”

For Jones, who secured his fifth career Ivy League championship with the win over Dartmouth last weekend, the honor marks his third Coach of the Year award. He previously won the award in 2015 and 2016.

Tuesday, March 31: This story has been updated to include comment from head coach James Jones and guard Jalen Gabbidon ’21.

William McCormack | william.mccormack@yale.edu