National League

Feb 02 2024

National League Monthly Awards for January announced

The 'Player/Coach of the Month' awards for January have been decided, in a vote dominated by the recent InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup winning teams.

Elijah Tillman has enjoyed a sensational return to Irish basketball with an MVP performance in UCC Demons InsureMyHouse.ie Pat Duffy Cup semi-final win over Energywise Ireland Neptune, before playing a leading role in their success against Irish Guide Dogs Ballincollig @MTU in the decider. He's also averaging 29.3ppg since returning to the InsureMyVan.ie Super League, including an incredible 55-point, 20 rebound performance in the last round of fixtures. His team-mate Seventh Woods is rewarded for his consistency during a difficult run of games with second place, while a couple of standout offensive performances from Killester's Kason Harrell see him recognised in third place.

Head coach honours are bestowed upon Danny O'Mahony as he led UCC Demons to an 8th National Cup success and appears to have turned a corner in their InsureMyVan.ie Super League form.

Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell enjoy a clean sweep of the MissQuote.ie Super League awards, with Edel Thornton, Lauryn Homan and Jayla Johnson picking up the player gongs, while Liam Culloty takes home the coaching honours. January has been a roller coaster month for the club, picking up their first piece of senior silverware at the National Basketball Arena in the shape of the Paudie O'Connor Cup, before losing January's Player of the Month Edel Thornton to a season ending injury.

21 year-old Lauryn Homan has made huge strides this year and her 23-point performance, including going 5/7 from three-point range in the Paudie O'Connor Cup final cemented her position as one of the form Irish players in the country. Jayla Johnson is another who has excelled with the Cork club since joining, averaging 20ppg, along with 6.6rpg and1.7 assists in the MissQuote.ie Super League. She finishes third in this month's vote.

Jonathan Jean's return to UCD Marian has coincided with the team going to another level in January and his contribution to their Presidents' Cup victory helped secure him top honours in the InsureMyVan.ie Division One category. While his numbers in the boxscore have been slightly different to the gaudy scoring numbers of last season, Jean come up big for his team in clutch situations during the National Cup and he is clearly a controlled, calming influence on the entire UCD Marian bench.

Splitting Jean and his team-mate Sasha French is Leondre Washington of Scotts Lakers Killarney. Washington has made an instant impact since moving to Kerry, averaging a whopping 42ppg, 8rpg and 7 assists during the course of the month. The aforementioned French provides a really good defensive presence inside for UCD Marian, while also proving effective on the offensive end with 18.2ppg in his 10 appearances this season to match 9.2 boards per game.

UCD Marian Head Coach Ioannis Liapakis makes it three from four awards for the club in January.

Mikayla Brandon was involved in the most memorable non-playing moment during the InsureMyHouse.ie National Cup finals weekend when team-mate Lucy Devoy introduced her to the floor of the National Basketball Arena and the two combine again to take first and second spot in the January voting.

Brandon played every minute of the InsureMyHouse.ie Women's Division One National Cup final, notching a 22-point, 20 rebound double-double in the process. Remarkably she managed to better that in the previous round, ending their semi-final win over Oblate Dymanos with 22-points and 22 rebounds. Irish underage international Lucy Devoy excels when asked to initiate the offense for Limerick Celtics and the passion she brings to the floor each week drives her team-mates on in tough situations. Abbey Seals Dublin Lions Sydney Kin has picked up two monthly awards to date, but has to settle for third spot this time around.

Tony Hehir picks up the Coach of the Month award after Limerick Celtics excellent run to National Cup success, while he also has them purring in the MissQuote.ie Division One, where they currently lie second in the South Conference.

InsureMyVan.ie Super League

Player: 1^st Elijah Tillman (UCC Demons) / 2^nd Seventh Woods (UCC Demons) / 3^rd Kason Harrell (Killester)

Coach: Danny O’Mahony (UCC Demons)

MissQuote.ie Super League

Player: 1^st Edel Thornton (Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell) / 2^nd Lauryn Homan (Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell) / 3^rdJayla Johnson (Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell)

Coach: Liam Culloty (Gurranabraher Credit Union Brunell)