It was once again a very crowded field for Pipe Dream’s Male Athlete of the Year award. The field features conference champions, all-league players, record breakers and even a National Champion. Our staff narrowed it down to five deserving candidates, but in the end, only one can take home the award.
Mike Gordon, basketball: The most telling quote we heard this year about “Magic Mike” came from his head coach, Kevin Broadus, one day after the Plainfield, N.J. native’s final collegiate game. “He put forth 100 percent every day, lunch pail, hard-hat on, punched the time clock and gave his all, and if we could get thirteen Mike Gordons, we will win this league.” That’s the legacy Mike Gordon will leave behind from his 2007-08 season. Yeah, he led the AE in steals, finished third in assists and was named second-team All-Conference and All-Defensive, but more than anything, Gordon was a leader, a consummate professional and the face of Binghamton University basketball. There may never be another Mike Gordon at BU.
Arnav Jain, tennis: The freshman from Mumbai, India finished the regular season 17-3, best on the team, but saved his greatest effort for the America East Tournament, where he rallied from down 5-3 in the final set of the final game of the AE Finals, despite being hampered by leg cramps. Jain’s heroics led him to be named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Jain also teamed with Moshe Levy to help BU to the doubles point in the AE Finals. Jain and the Bearcats will look to make some noise when they take on Tulsa in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this weekend.
Cameron Keith, soccer: Keeping in the storied line of Scottish Binghamton soccer stars, Keith, a transfer from Aberdeenshire, Scotland, became the most dominating player on a team that captured the attention of the entire University. He opened the Bearcats Sports Complex by becoming the first Bearcat to hat trick in the Division I era and kept it going, scoring the first five goals in BSC history. He later recorded yet another home hat trick and helped provide Binghamton with a dynamic offense that it had not seen in recent years.
Rory Quiller, track and field: National Champion, Olympic dreamer, commercial star, holiday namesake, the graduate student from West Point, N.Y. has done it all. Quiller punctuated the most storied career of any BU athlete when he took home the school’s first Division I National Championship at the University of Arkansas, this past March. His success even led the mayor to declare “Rory Quiller Day” in the City of Binghamton. But the pole vaulter isn’t done; up next is the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., where Quiller can see if he’s ready to represent America against the world’s best.
Brenno Varanda, swimming: The junior from St. Petersburg, Fla., kept with BU tradition by being named America East Swimmer of the Meet at the AE Championships, the fourth consecutive year a Bearcat swimmer has garnered the award. Varanda broke his own school record in the 200 at the championships and captured three titles over the course of the weekend. His success at the AE Championships led him to be named the National Swimmer of the Week by collegeswimming.com.