Coastal Athletic Association Men's Basketball Player of the Year

The Coastal Athletic Association Men's Basketball Player of the Year (formerly the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Player of the Year) is an award given to the Coastal Athletic Association's most outstanding player. The award was first given following the 1982–83 season, when the conference was known as the ECAC South basketball league.^[1] In 1985, the conference expanded to offer more sports, and became the Colonial Athletic Association.^[2] The conference name was changed to Coastal Athletic Association in 2023.^[3]

CAA Men's Basketball
Player of the Year

Awarded for	the most outstanding basketball player in the Coastal Athletic Association
Country	United States
History
First award	1983
Most recent	Tyler Tejada, Towson

The first award, the only tie, was given to Dan Ruland of James Madison and Carlos Yates of George Mason.^[4] Two players have won the award three times: David Robinson of Navy (1984–1986) and George Evans of George Mason (1999–2001).^[5][6] Evans' first award in 1999 was as a 28-year-old sophomore—he had served seven years in the United States Army, seeing combat in Somalia, Bosnia, and Desert Storm.^[6] Eight other players have been the CAA POY twice, with Hofstra's Aaron Estrada being the most recent (2022, 2023).

Hofstra has the most all-time awards with nine and most individual recipients with six. Since July 2022, it is the only one of the five schools with the most awards to still be in the conference. George Mason (six winners) left for the Atlantic 10 in 2013. James Madison, Old Dominion and VCU have each had four winners; James Madison left for the Sun Belt Conference in 2022, Old Dominion left for Conference USA in 2013, and VCU left for the A-10 in 2012. Navy's three wins by Robinson were won while the team was a conference member for just nine years. Another charter member, Richmond, won three awards before leaving the conference in 2001. Other original members to leave, American and East Carolina, each have one recipient. Of the conference's current members, William & Mary went the longest without its first winner. In 2015, 32 years after the award was first handed out, Marcus Thornton claimed William & Mary's first ever honor.

Key

†	Co-Players of the Year
*	Awarded a national player of the year award: UPI College Basketball Player of the Year (1954–55 to 1995–96) Naismith College Player of the Year (1968–69 to present) John R. Wooden Award (1976–77 to present)
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has been awarded the CAA Player of the Year award at that point

Winners

Johnny Newman, Richmond, 1984

David Robinson, Navy, 1985 through 1987

Curtis Blair, Richmond, 1992

Jarod Stevenson, Richmond, 1998

Brett Blizzard, UNC Wilmington, 2002 and 2003

J. J. Barea, Northeastern, 2006

Eric Maynor, VCU, 2008 and 2009

Charles Jenkins, Hofstra, 2010 and 2011

Ryan Pearson, George Mason, 2012

Marcus Thornton, William & Mary, 2015

Justin Wright-Foreman, Hofstra, 2018 and 2019

Nathan Knight, William & Mary, 2020

Season	Player	School	Position	Class	Reference
1982–83†	Dan Ruland	James Madison	C	Senior	[4]
	Carlos Yates	George Mason	F	Sophomore	[4]
1983–84	Johnny Newman	Richmond	F	Sophomore	[7]
1984–85	David Robinson	Navy	C	Sophomore	[5]
1985–86	David Robinson (2)	Navy	C	Junior	[5]
1986–87	David Robinson* (3)	Navy	C	Senior	[5]
1987–88	Kenny Sanders	George Mason	F	Junior	[8]
1988–89	Blue Edwards	East Carolina	F	Senior	[9]
1989–90	Steve Hood	James Madison	SG	Junior	[10]
1990–91	Steve Hood (2)	James Madison	SG	Senior	[10]
1991–92	Curtis Blair	Richmond	SG	Senior	[11]
1992–93	Brian Gilgeous	American	F / G	Senior	[12]
1993–94	Odell Hodge	Old Dominion	C / F	Sophomore	[13]
1994–95	Petey Sessoms	Old Dominion	F	Senior	[14]
1995–96	Bernard Hopkins	VCU	F	Senior	[15]
1996–97	Odell Hodge (2)	Old Dominion	C / F	Senior	[13]
1997–98	Jarod Stevenson	Richmond	SF	Senior	[16]
1998–99	George Evans	George Mason	C / F	Sophomore	[6]
1999–00	George Evans (2)	George Mason	C / F	Junior	[6]
2000–01	George Evans (3)	George Mason	C / F	Senior	[6]
2001–02	Brett Blizzard	UNC Wilmington	SG	Junior	[17]
2002–03	Brett Blizzard (2)	UNC Wilmington	SG	Senior	[17]
2003–04	Domonic Jones	VCU	PG	Senior	[18]
2004–05	Alex Loughton	Old Dominion	C / F	Junior	[19]
2005–06	J. J. Barea	Northeastern	PG	Senior	[20]
2006–07	Loren Stokes	Hofstra	G	Senior	[21]
2007–08	Eric Maynor	VCU	PG	Junior	[22]
2008–09	Eric Maynor (2)	VCU	PG	Senior	[22]
2009–10	Charles Jenkins	Hofstra	PG	Junior	[23]
2010–11	Charles Jenkins (2)	Hofstra	PG	Senior	[24]
2011–12	Ryan Pearson	George Mason	SF	Senior	[25]
2012–13	Jerrelle Benimon	Towson	PF	Junior	[26]
2013–14	Jerrelle Benimon (2)	Towson	PF	Senior	[26]
2014–15	Marcus Thornton	William & Mary	SG	Senior	[27]
2015–16	Juan'ya Green	Hofstra	PG	Senior	[28]
2016–17	T. J. Williams	Northeastern	PG	Senior	[29]
2017–18	Justin Wright-Foreman	Hofstra	PG	Junior	[30]
2018–19	Justin Wright-Foreman (2)	Hofstra	PG	Senior	[30]
2019–20	Nathan Knight	William & Mary	PF	Senior	[31]
2020–21	Matt Lewis	James Madison	SG	Senior	[32]
2021–22	Aaron Estrada	Hofstra	PG / SG	Junior	[33]
2022–23	Aaron Estrada (2)	Hofstra	PG / SG	Senior	[33]
2023–24	Tyler Thomas	Hofstra	SG	Graduate	[34]
2024–25	Tyler Tejada	Towson	SG	Sophomore	[35]

Winners by school

The CAA began in 1982 when it was known as the ECAC South. The CAA was officially organized in 1985 when it expanded from only a basketball conference. Awards from the ECAC are included.

Years of joining reflect the calendar year in which each school joined the CAA or ECAC South.

School (year joined)	Winners	Years
Hofstra (2001)	9	2007, 2010, 2011, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
George Mason (1982)[a]	6	1983†, 1988, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2012
James Madison (1982)[b]	4	1983†, 1990, 1991, 2021
Old Dominion (1991)[c]	4	1994, 1995, 1997, 2005
VCU (1995)[d]	4	1996, 2004, 2008, 2009
Navy (1982)[e]	3	1985, 1986, 1987
Richmond (1982)[f]	3	1984, 1992, 1998
Towson (2001)	3	2013, 2014, 2025
Northeastern (2005)	2	2006, 2017
UNC Wilmington (1985)	2	2002, 2003
William & Mary (1982)	2	2015, 2020
American (1984)[g]	1	1993
East Carolina (1982)[h]	1	1989
Campbell (2023)	0	—
Charleston (2013)	0	—
Delaware (2001)[i]	0	—
Drexel (2001)	0	—
Elon (2014)	0	—
Georgia State (2005)[j]	0	—
Hampton (2022)	0	—
Monmouth (2022)	0	—
North Carolina A&T (2022)	0	—
Stony Brook (2022)	0	—

1. George Mason University left for the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) in 2013.
2. James Madison University left for the Sun Belt Conference (SBC) in 2022.
3. Old Dominion University left for Conference USA (CUSA) in 2013. It is now in the SBC.
4. Virginia Commonwealth University was a member until joining the A-10 in 2012.
5. The United States Naval Academy (Navy) was a member until joining the Patriot League in 1991.
6. The University of Richmond was a member until joining the A-10 in 2001.
7. American University was a member until it joined the Patriot League in 2001.
8. East Carolina was a member until it joined CUSA in 2001. It is now in the American Athletic Conference.
9. Delaware will leave for CUSA after the 2024–25 season.
10. Georgia State University left for the SBC in 2013.