The USCAA announced its Division II men's basketball All-Americans on Saturday evening at the 2020 USCAA Basketball National Tournament Banquet at Seven Springs Mountain Resort in Champion, Pennsylvania, and Berkeley College's men's basketball team was represented by Daquan Jackson and Tristan Polnitz. Jackson was voted a Second Team All-American, while Polnitz earned Academic All-American praise. Following the announcement of the awards, Head Coach Jonathan Pena spoke of how proud he was of the two aforementioned student-athletes.
"Daquan is such a tireless worker, and it is truly gratifying to see him get recognized on a National level," Pena said. "He is such a tremendous presence on both sides of the court for us, consistently making plays offensively, as well as coming up big on the defensive side. Now, he'll have the opportunity to prove himself in the tournament for the first time, and we're all looking forward to seeing the impact he will have out here. As for Tristan, he works diligently in the classroom, and the evidence is his GPA. He is very dedicated to his studies. I couldn't be more proud of Daquan and Tristan."
To start the evening, the Executive Director of the USCAA, Matthew Simms, saluted Penn State Fayette for 12 great years of hosting the USCAA National Basketball Tournament. Next season, the basketball championships will move to Richmond, Virginia. Shortly thereafter, Berkeley College's Head Coach Emeritus, and long-time Head Coach, Chris Christiansen, offered a speech that featured a little bit of everything, including perspective, advice, personal reflection, and humor.
The speech was titled "Winning and Not Winning", with the legendary Berkeley College coach touching notably on the Knights National championships in 2015 (the team's first), 2017 (the memorable 29-0 season), and the end of the team's four-year run in 2019. He spoke of how grateful he was for all his experienced moments, whether those instances produced feelings of gratification and euphoria, or feelings of hurt. It was a message that resonated with the 18 teams in the ballroom, and Christiansen, like always, exemplified class while finalizing his speech, wishing all institutions luck over the next four days that will produce a champion from each gender.
Christiansen has been a staple of the Berkeley College men's basketball program since its inception 25 years ago, and he led the men's basketball team to unmatched heights during the period of 2014-2017. Under his guidance, the team won three consecutive USCAA Division II National titles as well as nine Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference crowns. Incredibly, he won his final 53 games as Head Coach, and that aforementioned streak serves as the longest streak any team in any sport at the institution has ever boasted. Christiansen's win-loss record over a 12 year period (2005-2017) since Berkeley joined the HVIAC was a staggering 203-74 (73.2 percent).
Daquan Jackson has been a dominant force for the Knights this season. He currently leads the team in scoring (14.2 PPG), and is 16th in Division II in rebounds per game (8.7). The forward is second in the Nation with 40 blocked shots, fifth in offensive caroms per evening with 3.9, and ninth in field goal percentage (56.6). In addition, the freshman has scored over 20 points on seven different occasions, and has registered six double-doubles on the 2019-2020 campaign. Also an HVIAC All-Conference selection, Jackson was pivotal in Berkeley's classic 76-73 victory over SUNY-ESF in the HVIAC tournament semifinals, as he scored 13 points, grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds, and tied for the game-high with five assists.
Tristan Polnitz, a Criminal Justice major with a cumulative GPA of 3.5, earned Academic All-American status.
The Knights (No. 7 seed) will open Division II tournament play on Sunday afternoon, March 8, at 2:00pm, as Berkeley will take on No. 10-seeded Penn State Greater Allegheny. To follow the Berkeley College men's basketball team's quest for its fifth National Championship in the last six seasons, visit the following link: http://basketball.theuscaa.com/sports/mbkb/div2/2019-20/schedule. Live statistics and live video streaming will be available for all games.
Recaps of all Berkeley College contests will accessible on the Knights' athletics website – www.berkeleycollegeknights.com.
