The Hobart basketball team was richly rewarded after winning the Liberty League regular season and tournament championships when the 2023-24 conference awards were revealed this afternoon. Junior guard Pat Healy was voted to the All-Liberty League first team, junior forward Carter Meshanic was elected to the second team and junior guard Aidan Rodgers earned all-conference honorable mention. The Statesmen coaches were tabbed the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
 

Head Coach Stefan Thompson '13 and Assistant Coaches Ben Horwitz, Dennis Pysnack, Tim Lewis and Charlie Evangelista have guided Hobart to a 22-5 overall record heading into the program's sixth NCAA tournament appearance. Only two teams in Statesmen history have produced more wins in a season, Thompson's first season as Hobart head coach in 2019-20 (23-5) and the 2011-12 team with Thompson as the starting point guard (23-6).

The Statesmen opened the campaign with a 10-game winning streak, the longest winning streak to start a season in the 113-season history of the program. Hobart tied for the Liberty League regular season crown with a 13-5 record and earned the No. 1 seed in the Liberty League Tournament. The Statesmen beat RIT 79-61 in the semifinals and earned their first conference championship since 2014 with a 63-55 win over St. Lawrence in the title game.
 
Healy leads Hobart in scoring, producing 12.9 ppg. He shot .435 from the floor, .344 from 3-point range, and .781 at the free throw line. Healy also contributes 3.0 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.2 spg. He reached double digits in the scoring column, netting a season-high 28 points in Hobart's season-opening win over St. John Fisher. Healy followed that up with 10 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots in a win over Morrisville State. The two performances earned him the Liberty League Performer of the Week. Healy pulled down a season-high eight rebounds three times, handed out a season-high four assists three times and logged a season-high four steals in a win over Vassar.
 
Healy has played in 76 career games, starting 37, for Hobart. He's averaging 8.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, and 1.4 apg.
 
Meshanic leads Hobart in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and blocked shots (22) and is third in scoring (11.8 ppg). He's shooting .498 from the floor. Meshanic logged back-to-back double-doubles in November wins over Brockport (17 pts, 14 rebs) and Rochester (18 pts, 14 rebs). He scored 10 or more points in 16 of 27 games this year, dropping a season-high 25 points in a conference win at Union. Meshanic scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds in the Liberty League semifinal win over RIT. He was named the Liberty League Performer of the Week twice this season and earned a spot on the D3hoops.com Team of the Week for the week ending Dec. 3.
 
In 80 career games (55 starts), Meshanic is averaging 9.3 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.5 bpg and 0.5 spg, while shooting .536 from the floor.
 
Rodgers ranks in the top five in the Liberty League in free throw shooting (2nd, .848), assist-to-turnover (3rd, 2.0), assists per game (4th, 3.4) and steals per game (5th, 1.5). He's second on the team and 13th in the league in scoring, dropping 12.0 ppg. Rodgers has hit double figures in points 17 times in 27 games, including a season-high 22 points in the win at Clarkson. He made a bid for a triple-double in Hobart's win over Immaculata, finishing with 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Rodgers scored 20 points and made a season-high five steals in the win at Rochester.
 
Rodgers has started 79 of the 80 games he's played for Hobart, averaging 10.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.1 apg and 1.0 spg. He has a .378 career field goal percentage, a .308 3-point percentage and an .809 free throw percentage.
 
Hobart will face No. 23 Christopher Newport in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship. The teams will tip off at 5:10 p.m., Friday, March 1 in Widener's Schwartz Center in Chester, Pennsylvania.