David Chadbourne named NABC East Coach of the Year; Ellis Cooper named to NABC All-East Second-Team

Ellis Cooper has earned three regional honors during the postseason.

RINDGE, N.H. (March 24, 2012) -- The post-season honors continued to roll in for the Franklin Pierce University men's basketball this week as a trio of Ravens earned impressive accolades from the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Junior guard Eric Jean-Guillaume (Stamford, Conn.) was named an All-American, while also earning a spot the NABC All-East First-Team. Teammate and sophomore forward Ellis Cooper (Northampton, Mass.) was named to the East second-team, while head coach David Chadbourne was named the NABC East Region Coach of the Year.

Jean-Guillaume becomes just the fifth player in program history to be named an All-American and the first since Donald Johnson received the honor from the NABC in 2001. Jean-Guillaume averaged 14.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game during the season, while logging double-figures in scoring in 23 games, including seven contests of at least 20 points. He dished out at least four assists in 10 games and logged 13 contests with one turnover or less.

Jean-Guillaume had a decorated 2011-12 season. In addition to earning the All-America and regional honors listed above, he was also named the Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year, earned a spot on the All-NE-10 First-Team and was named to the Daktronics All-East Region First-Team. Jean-Guillaume also topped 1,000 career points back in February.

Cooper's NABC East region honor marked his third regional accolade this season, including being named to the Daktronics All-East Second-Team and being placed on the NCAA Division II Tournament All-East Regional Team for his exemplary play in the national postseason tournament.

Cooper averaged 15.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game during the season, including topping double-figures in scoring in 22 games. He was placed on the NCAA all-regional team after he averaged 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in pair of contests two weeks ago. Cooper led Franklin Pierce with 13 points in a 59-58 win over Philadelphia in the first round on March 10, and followed with an outstanding effort of 22 points and 11 rebounds in a tough 69-60 setback to Bloomfield in the second round on March 11. Cooper was also named to the All-NE-10 First-Team following the regular season.

Head Coach David Chadbourne has earned two coach-of-the-year honors this season.

Coach Chadbourne earned his second coach-of-the-year honor in 2012 as the NABC recognition goes along with the NE-10 coach-of-the-year accolade he earned from the conference after guiding the Ravens to the league's regular season championship.

Chadbourne guided the Ravens to one of the greatest seasons in program history in 2011-12, including leading Franklin Pierce to a 22-8 overall record (the team's first 20-win season in 16 years and the 12th overall). After winning the NE-10 regular season trophy, the Ravens earned the No. 1 seed for the league tournament and advanced to the semifinals. Franklin Pierce was ranked No. 1 in the NCAA East Region Poll for several weeks during the regular season and thus earned the top seed in the East region of the NCAA Tournament, marking the program's first trip to the national tournament since 1996.

For more information on Franklin Pierce men's basketball, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens).