GORHAM, Maine  –  Senior Chance Dixon (Lake Worth, Fla./Santaluces) and sophomore Tommy Whelan (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep) of the University of Southern Maine Huskies' men's basketball team have each earned a spot on the 2023-2024 All-Little East Conference roster.  Dixon was selected to the all-conference first team, while Whelan is a member of the LEC's second team.
 
A second-year guard for the Huskies, Whelan is earning post-season honors for the first time in his career with his selection to the second team.  Now a two-time All-Little East Conference selection, earning second team honors in 2022-2023, Dixon is the first Husky men's basketball player to repeat as an All-LEC performer since Conor Sullivan (2010-2014). Sullivan earned first team honors in 2012-13, and second team honors in 2013-2014. 
 
Setting career-highs in each statistical category, Whelan had a tremendous sophomore season averaging 16.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.5 steals per game while shooting a team-leading 54.0 percent (162-for-300) from the field, and 38.71 percent (24-for-62) from three-point range.  Playing and starting in each of the Huskies 26 games this season, Whelan totaled 432 points, 150 rebounds, 61 assists and 38 steals.  Whelan also led the Huskies in blocked shots with 15.  The Huskies' 6-1 guard posted three double-doubles during the season, including an 18-point, 10-rebound, six-assist performance in a 70-64 win for the Huskies over UMass Dartmouth (January 11).  Whelan set a career-highs with 25 points at WestConn (February 3), 12 rebounds against UMass Boston (January 31), six assists versus UMass Dartmouth (January 11), five steals at Vermont State Castleton (January 13) and four blocked shots against University of New England (November 8).
 
The Huskies' leading scorer averaging 17.8 points per game, Dixon finished the 2023-2024 season with 463 points, 99 rebounds, 56 assists and 30 steals. Shooting 45.8 percent (168-for-367) from the field, and 36.2 percent (67-for-185) from three-point range, Dixon became the 28^th player in program history to record at least 1000 career points with 19 points in a 75-67 win over Plymouth State (January 17).  Scoring at least 20 points in 11 games this season, Dixon's 67 three-point field goals in 2023-2024 are tied for eighth in single-season records.  A deadly three-point shooter, Dixon has 211 threes in his career and is a career 37.41 percent shooter from beyond the arc. Knocking down 73 threes in 2021-22 (fifth in single-season history), Dixon's 211 are second in Husky career records. Playing in 84 career games, Dixon has 1172 points, 227 rebounds, 151 assists and 86 steals. His 1172 points are 18^th all-time.
 
Southern Maine finished the 2023-24 season with a 14-12 overall record and a 9-7 mark in Little East Conference action.  The Huskies' 14-12 record marking the first back-to-back winning campaigns for the program in more than 30 years.  The Huskies were 15-12 in 1991-1992 and 13-12 in 1992-93.  Under third-year head coach Rob Sanicola, the Huskies finished the 2022-23 season with a record of 16-10.
 
2023-2024 Men's Basketball All-Little East Conference Teams

Player of the Year	Jeff Hunter	Keene State
Defensive Player of the Year	Jeff Hunter	Keene State
Rookie of the Year	Wesley Odiase	Keene State
Coach of the Year	David Hastings	Keene State
First Team All-LEC
Octavio Brito	Keene State
Jeff Hunter	Keene State
Isaac Percy	UMass Dartmouth
Ousmane Kourouma	Rhode Island College
Chance Dixon	Southern Maine
Jahiem Young	Western Connecticut
Second Team All-LEC
Nate Siow	Keene State
Emanual Zyas	UMass Boston
Jackson Zancan	UMass Dartmouth
Kyler Bosse	Plymouth State
Tommy Whelan	Southern Maine
Cameron Gallon	Western Connecticut
All-Defensive Team
Octavio Brito	Keene State
Jeff Hunter	Keene State
Nate Siow	Keene State
Ousmane Kourouma	Rhode Island College
Jeremiah Williams	Western Connecticut

 
 
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