2023 Hercules Tires MAAC Basketball Championships Digital Program

2022–23 NIAGARA MEN’S & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

QUICK FACTS LOCATION NIAGARA UNIVERSITY, NY NICKNAME PURPLE EAGLES COLORS PURPLE AND WHITE YEAR FOUNDED 1856 PRESIDENT REV. JAMES J. MAHER, C.M.

MEN’S ROSTER

WOMEN’S ROSTER No. Name Cl.

No.

Name

Cl. Fr. Fr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Fr. So.

Pos.

Ht.

Wt.

Hometown/High School/Previous School

Pos.

Ht.

Hometown/High School/Previous School

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ATHLETICS SIMON GRAY HOME ARENA FRANK AND BARBARA LAYDEN COURT AT THE GALLAGHER CENTER (2,100)

0 1 2 4 5

Shane Lancaster

G 6-4 195 Bowie, MD/St. John’s College High School G 6-4 176 Grayslake, IL/Carmel Catholic High School G 6-3 190 Leesburg, FL/Chipola Community College G 6-2 185 Ankeny, IA/Indian Hills Community College

0 1 2 3 4 5

Marianna Freeman

So.

G 5-5 Rochester, NY/Bishop Kearney H.S.

Bryce Moore

Shelby Fiddler

Fr.

G 5-9 Roanoke, VA/Patrick Henry H.S.

Lance Erving

Brooklyn Jones

Jr.

G 5-7 Pittsburgh, PA/Taylor Allderdice H.S G 5-7 Manilus, NY/Fayetteville-Manilus H.S.

Braxton Bayless

Lexi Roe

So.

Keith Kiner III

F

6-6 195 Sparta, IL/Three Rivers College

Ary Hicks

Fr.

G 5-5 Punta Gorda, FL/Charlotte H.S.

PLAYER TO WATCH Angel Parker is in her fourth season with the Purple Eagles and became the 25 th player in Niagara program history to reach 1,000 career points. She needed just 85 career games to reach the benchmark. The Cheektowaga, N.Y. native is one of five players on the team that went to high school together at Cardinal O’Hara. Angel and her sister Aaliyah Parker are the two leaders that lead Niagara on the offensive side as they have both been in the top five in scoring in the MAAC for majority of the season. As a junior, she averaged 17.0 points per game and was an First Team All-MAAC selection. She also finished second in the nation in steals while breaking the Niagara single season steal record. NOTABLE ALUMNI Moore was a key member of the Purple Eagle women’s basketball team from 2016-20 in which she appeared in 111 games as a Purple Eagle. In her career she averaged 12.6 points per game while as a junior in 18-19 she had a career high 17.5 points per game. Following her junior year she was named to the All-MAAC First Team after she hit double digits in 26 games. She also had 13 games in which she scored 20 or more points. In her senior season, she was named to the All-MAAC Second Team after scoring double figures in 26 games. She became just the 24 th player in Niagara history to reach 1,000 career points. She is one nine Niagara players in program history to be named All-MAAC back-to-back seasons.

10 11 13 14 21 22 25 30 55

Jalen Brown

G 5-10 160 Chicago, IL/De La Salle High School

Aaliyah ParkerSo.

So.

F F 5-9 Cheektowaga, NY/Cardinal O’Hara H.S. 6-2 Niagara Falls, NY/Cardinal O’Hara H.S. G 5-5 Cheektowaga, NY/Cardinal O’Hara H.S. G 5-5 Amherst, NY/Saint Peter’s (NCAA) G 5-8 Geneva, IL/Geneva Community H.S.

Aaron Gray

F F

6-7 215 Providence, RI/Southern New Hampshire University

10 11 12 14 20 21 23 25 30

Ameila Strong

Fr.

Touba Traore

Jr.

6-11 210 Bamako, Mali/Massanutten Military Academy

Angel Parker

Sr.

David Mitchell

Gr.

G 6-6 210 Roxbury, MA/Brown University

Nickelle O’Neil

Gr. Gr.

Noah Thomasson

Sr.

G 6-3 195 Houston, TX/Butler Community College (KS)

Maddy Yelle

Sam Iorio

Gr. Sr. Fr. Fr.

F

6-7 230 Allentown, PA/South Alabama

Marlie Dickerson

Fr.

G 5-10 Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin

Joe Kasperzyk

G 6-3 190 New Haven, CT/Southeastern Louisiana

Lore Porter

Jr.

G 5-9 Woodbridge, VA/New Hope Academy

Donovan Hill

F F

6-8 210 Harrisburg, PA/Central Dauphin High School

Jade Rutledge

Fr.

F F F

5-10 Buffalo, NY/Cardinal O’Hara 6-0 Columbus, OH/Northland H.S. 6-2 Glen Burnie, MD/Old Mill H.S.

Harlan Obioha

7-0 280 Hoxie, KS/Hoxie High School

Saige Glover

Jr.

Sydney Faulcon

Sr.

Head Coach: Greg Paulus (Duke ‘09) – Fourth Season Associate Head Coach: Kevin Devitt (DePaul ‘10) – Third Season Assistant Coaches: Antone Gray (Rhode Island ’11) – First Season, Tyler Kelly (Florida Southern ’15) – First Season Director of Basketball Operations: Austin Kelley (St. Bonaventure ‘11) - Third Season

PLAYER TO WATCH Senior Noah Thomasson was named to the Preseason All-MAAC Second Team and has been one of the confer ence’s best scorers and playmakers all season long. Thomasson dropped a career-high 29 points in Niagara’s win over Central Arkansas in Dublin, Ireland where he was later named the MAAC/ASun Dublin Basketball Challenge MVP after leading Niagara to a 2-0 record in the Emerald Isle. As a junior, the Purple Eagle averaged 10.8 points and 3.4 assists per game. NOTABLE ALUMNI Alvin Cruz was one of the key members of the early 2000’s Niagara Purple Eagles, playing in 123 career games, averaging 9.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game as a member of the Purple and White. Cruz finished his career with 1,102 points and is one of 50 Purple Eagles to score 1,000 career-points. In 2004-05, Cruz set career-highs in points (13.2) and assists (6.4), leading Niagara to its Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship. Cruz is second in Niagara men’s basketball history with 630 assists and is one of three Purple Eagles who averaged 5.0 or more assists per game in their careers. The Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico, native is also ninth all-time with 150 made 3-pointers and sixth with 169 steals.

Head Coach: Jada Pierce (West Chester, ’97) – Eighth Season Assistant Head Coaches: Brianna Chambers (Cal State – Bakersfield, ’02) – Fifth Season, Lester Harbin (Lees-McRae, ’06) – Sixth Season Assistant Coach: Kayla DeCriscio (Pitt –Johnstown, ’16) – Third Season Director of Basketball Operations: Megan Cunningham (West Chester, ’17) – Second Season

HEAD COACH GREG PAULUS Greg Paulus is highly regarded in college athletics for his dedication to the holistic development of student-athletes. His stellar resume includes eight NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament appearances as a player and a coach. Paulus enters his fourth season at the helm of the NU squad in 2022-23. Paulus, who developed his craft after 14 years of playing and coaching at some of the most prestigious programs in collegiate athletics, joined the Purple Eagles staff in May 2019 as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. He was named head coach in November 2019. Paulus was named to The Athletic’s 40 Under 40: Rising Stars in Men’s College Basketball list, released by the publication on Nov. 23, 2021. In Paulus’ tenure, Niagara has become one of the most competitive teams in the MAAC, including back-to-back seasons as the No. 5 seed in the MAAC Championship. Paulus’ accomplishments during his maiden voyage as a head coach were recognized by the college basketball industry as he was the recipient of the 2019-20 Joe B. Hall National Coach of the Year Award which is presented annually to the top first-year coach in NCAA Division I college basketball.

HEAD COACH JADA PIERCE Niagara women’s basketball head coach Jada Niagara women’s basketball head coach Jada Pierce is in her eighth season at the helm of the Purple Eagles after being introduced as the eighth head coach in Niagara history in July of 2015. Through seven seasons as the leader of the Purple Eagles, Pierce has coached multiple All-MAAC selections, including 2017-18 MAAC Player of the Year and unanimous All-MAAC First Team selection Victoria Rampado and 2021-22 unanimous MAAC Rookie of the Year Aaliyah Parker. Pierce has also seen 42 of her student-athletes earn MAAC All-Academic recognition for their work in the classroom. Pierce entered 2022-23 with 78 wins, including 39 league wins as NU’s head coach. The best season for the Purple Eagles under Pierce was last season when the team finished 11-9 in league play and entered the MAAC Tournament as the four seed which included an opening round bye and a over Siena.

@NUPURPLEEAGLES @NIAGARAMBB @NIAGARAWBB @NUPURPLEEAGLES @NIAGARAMBB @NIAGARAWBB

64

JIM WHELAN BOARDWALK HALL | ATLANTIC CITY

2023 | HERCULES TIRES MAAC MEN’S & WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS 65