March 18, 2010

Complete NABC Release in PDF Format

Sophomore guard Kyle Caiola (Parma, OH/Normandy H.S.) was honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) as a 2010 First Team East Region selection, as announced by the NABC office on Wednesday.

Caiola is one of six members of the East Region First Team and one of 88 athletes honored on First and Second Teams from eight districts across the nation. These recipients are now eligible for the State Farm Coaches' Division II All-America teams, chosen by the NABC.

Earlier this year, Caiola was named to the Northeast-10 All-Conference Second Team and the 2010 Northeast-10 Tournament Most Outstanding Player for his consistently strong play throughout the 2009-10 campaign.

“Kyle got exactly what he deserved,” head coach Greg Herenda said. “He led our team to the Northeast-10 Championship and has had two incredible years here.”

After being named the 2009 NE-10 Freshman of the Year, Caiola followed up his rookie season with a stellar sophomore year. The guard finished the year averaging 20.2 PPG and shooting 46.9% from the floor (40.1% from long range). He led the conference in free throw shooting (89.9%) and was ranked among national leaders in that category all season. He dished an average of 3.2 assists per game and grabbed 1.8 steals per game, as well.

The sophomore became the 35th member of UMass Lowell’s 1,000 Point Club after tying his personal-best 32 points at Merrimack on March 4, 2010 in the NE-10 Semifinal before going on to lead his team to its third NE-10 Tournament title in program history.

“Kyle is most deserving of this great honor,” Herenda said. “I am glad he was duly rewarded.”

Caiola was joined on the First Team by Bentley’s Jason Westrol, Le Moyne’s Laurence Ekperigin, Merrimack’s Darren Duncan, Stonehill’s A.J. Rudowitz and Bloomfield’s Gage Daye.

A liberal arts major, Caiola is the son of Patricia Metlesitz and Glenn Caiola of Parma, OH.