Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Morey Hershgordon and Dylan Fearon
For the first time since the 2001-02 season, the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team has the best freshman in the conference. Friday morning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference announced Bobcats freshman guard Mikey Dixon as the 2016-17 MAAC Rookie of the Year at its annual award ceremony.
From the beginning of the season Dixon made an impact. He recorded 10 points in his collegiate debut against Vermont and backed that up by scoring 17 points the next game against Columbia. Following games against then-No. 11 Gonzaga and Seton Hall, the Delaware native registered double-digit scoring outings in 24 of his next 26 games. During that streak, he set Quinnipiac’s Division I record for points in a single game by a freshman with 27 against Iona and then re-broke it by scoring 29 the next game against Canisius. He also shattered the Quinnipiac Division I record for most consecutive made free throws with 34.
Dixon won the MAAC Rookie of the Week award six times this season. He finished the regular season averaging 16.8 points per game, good for the sixth highest scorer in the MAAC.
Last year, he led the Sanford School to a Delaware state championship, was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year and averaged over 27 points per game.
