NORFOLK, Va. – Coppin State's
Anthony Tarke headlined the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Postseason Awards on Friday afternoon as he was named both the MEAC Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Tarke is the third player in league history to receive both major awards in the same season.
Tarke's younger brother
Nendah Tarke was also named the league's Rookie of the Year.
Anthony Tarke and
DeJuan Clayton were also named First Team All-MEAC while
Koby Thomas and
Nendah Tarke received Third Team honors.
Anthony Tarke also topped the All-Defensive Team as
Nendah Tarke, and
Kenan Sarvan were placed on the All-Rookie Team.
Anthony Tarke is the eighth CSU player, and the first Eagle since the 2008-09 season (
Tywain McKee), to be named the MEAC Player of the Year. He is also the first player in school history to be named the league's Defensive Player of the Year.
Nendah Tarke is the fourth CSU player to be named the MEAC Rookie of the Year, and the first since McKee received the award during the 2005-06 season.
A 6-foot-6 redshirt senior from Gaithersburg, Md.,
Anthony Tarke is a nominee for the Lou Henson Award which honors the top mid-major player in the Nation. Tarke led the Eagles in virtually every statistical category and tops the MEAC in total points (345), rebounding (8.4), double-doubles (eight), defensive rebounds (6.7), blocks (1.9), steals (56), free throws made (87) and free throw attempts (155). The only player in the Nation to average at least 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals per game, Tarke also ranks third in the MEAC in points per game (16.4) and assists (78), and seventh in field goal percentage (47.4) and assist/turnover ratio (1.1).
Receiving eight MEAC Defensive Player of the Week Awards and a pair of Player of the Week selections this season, Tarke put the Nation on notice when he opened the campaign at Duke with 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two blocks and five steals. He nearly notched a triple-double in a victory over UNC Greensboro when he poured in a career-high 34 points, ten rebounds and eight assists while adding four blocks and four steals. In a win over Delaware State on January 5, Tarke put up the Nation's only 5-by-5 game when he recorded 13 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, six steals and five blocks.
In his most recent outing, Tarke made a school-record 11-of-11 field goals while scoring 31 points to go with eight assists in a win against the Hornets. His 11 field goals without a miss were the second-most in the Nation this season, and helped the Eagles earn a share of the MEAC Northern Division title, their first regular season championship since the 2003-04 season.
Nendah Tarke had an impressive freshman season for the Eagles, averaging 9.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the floor. A 6-foot-4 guard out of Gaithersburg, Md., Tarke upped his production in conference play to 11.8 points per game. Collecting five MEAC Rookie of the Week awards, Tarke reached double figures in scoring nine times and scored 20-plus points in victories at Delaware State and against UNC Greensboro. Tarke also had 19-point efforts against Morgan State and at Norfolk State.
In addition to being named the Rookie of the Year, Tarke is the first freshman since 2017-18 to be named to an All-MEAC Team (RJ Cole, Howard).
A redshirt senior from Bowie, Md., Clayton is now a three-time All-MEAC selection after receiving Second Team honors as a redshirt sophomore and Third Team accolades last season. Starting in all 15 games, Clayton had his best collegiate season, averaging 15.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 1.6 steals. Reaching double figures in 12 games, Clayton put up a career-high 32 points on 14-of-15 free throws in a win over Delaware State after missing the previous six games. Clayton also had 22 points in the season opener at Duke and had a pair of 20-plus point efforts in back-to-back wins over Norfolk State.
In MEAC play, Clayton ranks fifth in points per game (15.7), second in assists (5.3), seventh in free throw percentage (79.6) despite making a league-high 74 free throws, and first in assist/turnover ratio (2.1).
One of the best players to ever don the Navy & Gold, Clayton ranks fifth in CSU history with 1,509 points and third with 412 assists. Clayton joins McKee as the only Coppin State players to ever record over 1,500 points and 400 assists and ranks fourth in school-history with 430 free throws made.
Earning All-MEAC honors for the first time after playing his first two seasons at Robert Morris, Thomas ranks in the top ten in the MEAC in points, rebounds and steals. A senior from Philadelphia, Pa., Thomas is ninth with 12.4 points, fifth with 6.2 rebounds and seventh with 1.5 steals per game. Thomas joins
Anthony Tarke as the only Eagles players to start in all 21 games this season, and in Coppin's win over UNC Greensboro, recorded his 1,000
th career point with a 3-pointer in the opening minutes of the game.
In his four collegiate seasons, Thomas has recorded 1,213 points and 665 rebounds in 105 games to average 11.6 points and 6.3 rebounds in his career. Thomas has put up 12.9 points and 6.6 rebounds in 52 career games for the Eagles.
Sarvan received three MEAC Rookie of the Week awards in his freshman season, ranking second in the MEAC to his classmate
Nendah Tarke. In his first collegiate season, Sarvan, a 6-foot-10 forward from Heeze, Netherlands, averaged 6.1 points and 3.4 rebounds while adding 12 assists, nine steals and eight blocks. Sarvan finished second on the Eagles with 29 3-point field goals and reached double figures in five games which included a season-high 16 points and four 3-pointers at Towson. He also recorded 14 points and nine rebounds in a win over Norfolk State and added 10 points and eight rebounds in his debut at Duke.
