Christie named AUS MVP

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Atlantic University Sport is pleased to announce the 2023-24 AUS men's basketball all-stars and major award winners as selected by the conference's eight head coaches following regular season play.

Malcolm Christie, a third-year guard with the Dalhousie University Tigers has been chosen as this year’s AUS Men’s Basketball Most Valuable Player.

Other major award winners include STFX’s Koat Thomas, named AUS Rookie of the Year; UNB’s Javordo Mitchell, named AUS Defensive Player of the Year, CBU’s Mitchell Mersereau the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award winner; and Saint Mary’s head coach Jonah Taussig as AUS Coach of the Year.
 
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Malcolm Christie, Dalhousie Tigers 
Malcom Christie, a third-year guard from Fredericton, N.B., has been named the 2023-24 AUS Men’s Basketball Most Valuable Player.

The Bachelor of Management student finished second in the AUS in scoring this season, averaging just over 22 points per contest (22.1) as he led his Tigers to a 11-9 record – good enough for second place in the conference and a first-round bye through to the semifinals of the AUS playoffs.

Christie set a new AUS record with 79 three-point shots made this season, breaking the old record of 71 set by Memorial University’s Jeff Saxby back in the 2001-02 campaign.

During the season, Christie scored 30 or more points in six games – his best coming on Nov. 25 when he poured in 51 against the UNB Reds.

In addition to being named MVP, Christie was also selected as a First Team All-Star.

This season marks the first time a Dalhousie player has earned conference MVP honours since Keevan Veinot did so back in the 2019-20 season.

Christie now becomes the AUS representative for the Mike Moser Memorial Trophy as the Most Outstanding Player in U SPORTS basketball. The last Atlantic conference player to win the national award was William Njoku of the Saint Mary's Huskies in 1992-93. 

FULL AUS RELEASE

2023-24 AUS FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM 
First Team All-Stars
Malcolm Christie, Dalhousie, (3^rd year – Fredericton, N.B.)
Dondre Reddick, STFX, (4^th year – Antigonish, N.S.)
Glen Cox, Acadia, (3^rd year – Scotsburn, N.S.)
Jayrell Diggs, Saint Mary’s, (3^rd year – East Preston, N.S.)
Flynn Boardman-Raffet, Memorial, (3^rd year – London, UK)

Second Team All-Stars
Kamari Scott, UPEI, (4^th year – Malton, Ont.)
Shak Pryce, Cape Breton, (4^th year – Pickering, Ont.)
Marc-Denault Gabriel, Saint Mary’s, (3^rd year – Montreal, Que.)
Norm Burry, UNB, (3^rd year – Grafton, N.B.)
Marcus Barnes, UNB, (2^nd year – Kitchener, Ont.)

All-Rookie Team
Koat Thomas, STFX, (Waterloo, Ont.)
Spencer Riar, Dalhousie, (Montreal, Que.)
Tjark Lademacher, Saint Mary’s, (Luneberg, Germany)
Aaron Cunningham, Cape Breton, (Shelburne, Ont.)
Josh Francis, Memorial, (Calgary, Alta.)

The 2024 AUS Basketball Championships, presented by Bell and G-Series, will be hosted at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, N.S., Feb. 23 to 25. 
 
For more information on tickets, standings and the full event schedule, visit AUSHoops.ca.