Shelton Named SSC Defensive Player of the Year

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The Sunshine State Conference recognizes fourteen men's basketball student-athletes as All-SSC in 2017-18. Barry University, regular season champions, boasts four All-SSC awards including Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.

Elvar Fridriksson of Barry has been selected SSC Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. The 6-foot senior guard guided the Buccaneers to an 18-7 overall, 14-6 SSC record and the conference tournament No. 1 seed by averaging 20.0 points and 7.3 assists per game. The Njardvik, Iceland native is the third SSC athlete to be named Player of the Year twice¹ and remains the third overall Buccaneer to be honored². Fridriksson is the only SSC athlete to be named SSC Player of the Year twice and Newcomer of the Year.

All-SSC History: SSC Players and Coaches of the Year| All-SSC Teams

Barry's Butch Estes has been recognized by his peers as Coach of the Year for the second time³. Estes brought Barry its third consecutive conference championship following an 18-win season that included a 14-6 league record. Under Estes, the Buccaneers sported a 9.5-point scoring margin as they tallied 89.0 points per game. The sharp-shooting Barry squad made an SSC leading 12.5 three-point field goals per game, while also defending the ball well with a defensive field-goal percentage (.453) that is among the league leaders.

The University of Tampa's Duke Shelton earns the Defensive Player of the Year honors. The Ocala, Florida product was first in conference defensive rebounds per game (8.8) and second in total rebounds per game (11.4) as well as blocks per game (1.5) in 2017-18. Shelton, a 6-8 senior forward, becomes Tampa's second SSC Defensive Player of the Year award winner⁴.

Newcomer of the Year belongs to Nova Southeastern University's David Dennis. The Canal Winchester, Ohio native averaged a league-leading 39.7 minutes across 26 games as the Sharks improve 11-games over last year's record. The 6-1 junior guard is also first in SSC steals per game (3.6), second in assists per game (6.8), and fifth in points per game (19.6). He is the first Newcomer of the Year winner for Nova Southeastern University.

Malik Hardy from Nova Southeastern is awarded Freshman of the Year. The 6-2 guard saw action in 25 games this year for the Sharks, in which he averaged 26.5 minutes, 16.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.5 steals. Hardy, a product of Miramar, Florida, is the third Shark to be honored with the award and first since 2010⁵.

Joining Fridriksson and Dennis on the All-SSC First Team is Drushaun McLaurn and Trevon Young (Eckerd College), as well as Jonathan Lawton (Florida Southern College). Fridriksson and McLaurn repeat as First Team All-SSC performers from last season. Both athletes also earned Newcomer Team honors in 2016. Florida Tech's Sam Daniel and Jordan Majors, along with Jeff Merton of Rollins College, also repeat as All-SSC honorees. Dennis and Lawton both earn First Team and Newcomer Team honors, while Nashad Mackey of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University receives Second Team and Newcomer Team accolades.

Player of the Year = Elvar Fridriksson, Barry
Defensive Player of the Year = Duke Shelton, Tampa
Newcomer of the Year = David Dennis, Nova Southeastern
Freshman of the Year = Malik Hardy, Nova Southeastern
Coach of the Year = Butch Estes, Barry

2017-18 ALL-SSC Men's Basketball Honors

* = 2016-17 First Team
~ = 2016-17 Second Team
$ = 2016-17 Player of the Year
+ = 2015-16 First Team
^ = 2015-16 Newcomer Team
% = 2015-16 Newcomer of the Year
@ = 2014-15 Freshman of the Year

¹ Kevin Capers (FSC, 2014 & 2015); Nick Wolf (RC, 2009 & 2011); DeCarlo Deveaux (UT, 1993 & 1994)
² Yunio Barrueta (2016) and Nick Ellingsworth-Perez (2005)
³ Estes was also named coach of the year in 2017
⁴ Johnathan Ball (2008)
⁵ Brian Cahill (2010) and Tim Coenraad (2006)