Daemen's Benjamin Bill Named Consensus All-American

Release courtesy of Max Sacco, Daemen University Sports Information AMHERST, NY – Daemen University men's basketball center Benjamin Bill (Hamburg, N.Y.) was named a Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Third Team All-American, making him just the second consensus All-American in program history. Bill joins Andrew Sischo are the only two Daemen players to ever be named consensus All-Americans in program history. Bill was most recently named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II All-America Team on Tuesday, becoming the first Division I or II men's basketball player across Western New York since Sischo during the 2021-22 campaign to earn any All-American accolades. This year, the East Coast Conference Player of the Year is one of 10 consensus All-Americans and one of three consensus All-Americans on the third team alongside fellow East Region member Tray Alexander (Pace) and Jojo Murphy (Chico State). Bill is the only sophomore to land within the first, second, or third team as well.     The Hamburg, N.Y., native has compiled one of the most decorated seasons in program history as he was named to the NABC Division II All-America Team, ECC Player of the Year, a D2CCA All-East Region First Team selection, an All-ECC First Team honoree, NABC All-District First Team pick and was selected to the Bevo Francis Watch List Top 25.   Bill ended the year as the team leader in field goals made (209), field goal percentage (.708), points (488), points per game (16.8) and total blocks (62) while playing less than 25 minutes per game. The Hamburg, N.Y., native set the program record for field goal percentage in a season at .708, breaking the record that was set by Stefan Van Duluitgaarden during the 1991-92 season. His 62 total blocks this past season rank sixth all-time while his 209 made shots rank 10th all-time for a single season. Bill also helped pace Daemen in bench points per game with an average of 38.2 which ranked second in the nation at the end of the regular season. The redshirt sophomore center ended the 2024-25 campaign tied for the team lead in double-doubles with eight, highlighted by a 25-point, 11 rebound outing against Roberts Wesleyan (March 1). Across 29 games, Bill tallied 10-or-more points in all but three games and notched 10-or-more rebounds eight times. Bill joined redshirt senior forward Justin Hemphill (Buffalo, N.Y.) as the first Daemen duo to score 20-or-more points in a game since Dylan Fasoyiro (23 points) and Joey Atkins (20 points) accomplished the feat against the District of Columbia on Feb. 22, 2024. Bill and Hemphill combined to score 44 of Daemen's 88 points in the ECC Championship against St. Thomas Aquinas to propel the Wildcats to their first ECC postseason title in program history. This season, Bill earned six weekly awards as he was named the ECC Player of the Week on four occasions (Dec. 2, 9, 23 & Feb. 15) and the ECC Defensive Player of the Week twice (Dec. 9 & Jan. 13).    Along with Alexander and Murphy, Bill is joined on the third team by Dallas Graziani (Nova Southeastern), and Kendall Taylor (Wingate). The second team was comprised of Jarrett Adderton (Columbus State), Hobert Grayson (Ouachita Baptist), Jordan Hinds (Bluefield State), Tommy Murr (Alabama-Huntsville) and Nick Reid (Upper Iowa). MJ Iraldi (Nova Southeastern), Antwan Kimmons (Concordia-St.Paul), Adrian McIntyre (Westmont), Marcus Tomashek (Michigan Tech) and Caleb Van De Griend (Minot State) made up the first team with Iraldi also named the Ron Lenz Men's Basketball Player of the Year as well.
Read More...