BEVERLY, Mass. – Suffolk men's basketball saw three upperclassmen recognized by the Commonwealth Coast Conference as Keenan Robertson, Evan Cook and Danny Yardemian all collected All-CCC Distinction, the league office announced Friday morning. Robertson picked up first-team, Cook earned a spot on the second-team and Yardemian rounded out the trio on the third team.
The three all-conference accolades in a single season are the most for the Rams during their tenure in the CCC, which dates back to 2020-21. It ties the most all-league accolades for the blue-and-gold in program history, and first to do so since 2016-17 when Brendan Mulson '21 was tabbed the Great Northeast Athletic Conference's (GNAC) Rookie of the Year, Thomas Duffy '20 garnered All-GNAC First-Team and Michael Hagopian '19 was named All-GNAC Third-Team. Both sets of three all-conference honorees have come in the Jeff Juron era.
Suffolk had a historic campaign as the 2023-24 squad became the first to compete for the CCC Championship and was the second-ever squad to vie for a conference crown, first since 2002. The sixth-seeded Rams upset their way to the title tilt with a thrilling 80-79 overtime triumph at third-seed Endicott in the first round before shooting past second-seed Western New England, 74-63, in the semis. The blue-and-gold came up just shy of hoisting the CCC trophy for the first time as fifth-seeded Roger Williams ended Suffolk's season in the championship contest, 79-76.
The threesome of Robertson, Cook and Yardemian were instrumental to Suffolk's success. The trio paced the Rams' 75.3 points per game scoring unit as it combined for 46.4 points per game, 61.6 percent of the blue-and-gold's total scoring.
Robertson, a junior from Rochester, New York, led the way for the Rams on both ends of the hardwood en route to his second straight first-team honor. The small forward's team-best 17.4 points per outing came behind a 51.3 conversion rate from the floor, the fifth-best in the CCC and 11th overall in the region. Defensively, he grabbed a team-high 6.6 rebounds per contest. He is the first Ram to collect multiple CCC accolades in his career and fourth-ever Suffolk student-athlete to be tabbed to a conference's first-team twice, first since John Murphy earned back-to-back All-GNAC first-team in 2005-06 and 2006-07, respectively.
Cook, a graduate transfer who brought his talents to Beacon Hill from Wheaton, made an impact from the get-go with back-to-back 20-plus point performances. Throughout the 24-game regular-season, he hit the 20-point mark eight times including a 30-point game in the 89-78 win at Roger Wiliams, Jan. 20, 2024. He supplied 14.6 points per game, the second-most on the squad, and added 3.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.1 steals per outing to the Rams production. The Dunstable, Massachusetts, product is the first Suffolk player to secure a spot on the CCC second-team in program history.
Yardemian proved to be one of the most effective ball handlers in the league with the fifth-best assist to turnover ratio of 1.58, which landed in the top 10 in the region. The graduate guard also had a knack for getting in the passing lanes with 2.07 steals per game, the third most among conference counterparts and the fourth in the region. Scoring wise, the Belmont, Massachusetts native added 14.4 points per game to go along with the second-most rebounds per outing on the Rams roster of 5.3.
Suffolk's trophy case now features six CCC awards: three first-team, one second-team and two third-team accolades. When combined with the vast GNAC honors, the Rams now have 34 all-league honors including three rookies of the year, 15 first-team, five second-team, and 10 third-team selections. Of those honors, 14 have come with Juron the on the sidelines including five first-team, three second-team and five third-team distinctions, and one GNAC Rookie of the Year, Mulson in 2017-18.
2024 MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-CCC
Player of the Year: Tavon Jones, Nichols
Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Jake Harrison, Western New England
Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Tyler Stewart, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Rookie of the Year: Elijah Kinney, Endicott
Coach of the Year: Brock Erickson, Nichols
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Sam Goy, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Team Sportsmanship Award: Gordon
FIRST-TEAM ALL-CCC
Tavon Jones, Nichol
Tyler Stewart, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Mac Annus, Roger Williams
Keenan Robertson, Suffolk
Jalen Echevarria, Endicott
Jake Harrison, Western New England
SECOND-TEAM ALL-CCC
Gavin Greene, Western New England
Jack Connell, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Evan Cook, Suffolk
Elijah Kinney, Endicott
Dominic Mello, Nichols
THIRD-TEAM ALL-CCC
Tim Restall, Western New England
Jason Romans, Curry
Danny Yardemian, Suffolk
John Ah Kao, Roger Williams
Sam Goy, Wentworth Institute of Technology