Third-year men's basketball player Keevan Veinot has been named the 2019-20 AUS Men's Basketball MVP and an AUS first team all-star.
A commerce student from Port Williams, N.S., Veinot led the Tigers to a 19-1 regular season record, a first-place finish in the AUS standings, and a first-round playoff bye through to Saturday’s semifinals.
He led the conference in steals, averaging 2.3 per game, and in assists, averaging 5.5 per game.
He led Dalhousie in both points per game (15.6) and rebounds per game (5.2).
In addition to receiving the conference’s top honour, Veinot was also named an AUS first team all-star today for the first time in his career. He was named to the AUS all-rookie team in his freshman season in 2017-18.
He was also named AUS championship MVP last season after the Tigers captured their fourth conference title in five seasons.
Veinot is the first-ever Dalhousie player to earn conference MVP nods in men’s basketball — but he wasn't the only big winner at the awards.
A third-year guard from Milton, Ont., Xavier Ochu averaged 1.9 steals and 3.5 defensive rebounds per game this season for Dalhousie to earn the title of 2019-20 AUS Defenisve Player of the Year. The Tigers were a defensive force, leading the conference and finishing second nationally with a points against average of 65.8.
Ochu is just the second player from the Tigers to be named AUS defensive player of the year. Former Dalhousie standout Ritchie Kanza Mata earned the honour twice—in 2014-15 and 2016-17. He now becomes the AUS conference nominee for the U SPORTS defensive player of the year award.
Currently in his seventh season as head of the Tigers, head coach Rick Plato has been named the 2019-20 AUS Coach of the Year.
This season, Coach Plato’s Tigers finished with a 19-1 regular season record, a first-place finish in the conference standings, and earned the bye through to the semifinals of the AUS championship. The Tigers allowed the fewest points against in the conference this season (65.8) and were second nationally in the same category. They led the conference in points per game (89.3), assists per game (17.8), offensive rebounds per game (12.5) and steals per game (12.1). Dalhousie boasted a U SPORTS-best free throw percentage of 77.7 and a conference-best field goal percentage (47.7) and three-point percentage (35.5).
Under Coach Plato’s leadership, the Tigers have taken home four of the last five AUS championship titles and a national bronze medal. He first earned the conference’s coach of the year honour in back-to-back seasons in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
Coach Plato will now represent the AUS as the nominee for U SPORTS coach of the year. No Dalhousie head coach has ever earned the national honour.
Fourth-year forward Alex Carson was named an AUS second team all-star for the second consecutive season and was a first team all-star in the 2016-17 season.