10 men’s Division 3 college standouts in November/December

By: Henry Dinh-Price

The college basketball season is well underway, and through over a month of play, 10 standouts have risen to the top of New England Division 3 basketball.

Two players on this list have been named the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) Division 3 National Player of the Week. Four players have propelled their teams to a top 15 ranking in the D3hoops.com national poll.

The remaining standouts have had undeniable performances this season, earning weekly awards recognition from their respective conferences. 

Here are the brightest Division 3 stars in New England, from the start of the season in November through this month's winter break.

Octavio Brito, Keene State 

Guard, 6-4, Senior 

Brito is pacing the Owls (6-1), ranked 12th in the nation by D3hoops.com, averaging 20.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 50.5 percent from the field and 36.7 percent from 3. 

Brito was named the USBWA Division 3 National Player of the Week after an elite showing at the Williams College Purple and Gold Classic on Nov. 23 and 24. The Lincoln, R.I., native dropped 30 points on 10 of 16 shooting in a 109-78 win over Thomas College. He followed it with a 27-point, 15-rebound double-double in a 75-71 victory over then-No. 25 Williams. Brito has earned two Little East Conference Player of the Week awards this season.

Aidan Callahan, WPI 

Guard, 6-2, Senior 

Callahan is averaging 17.4 points and six assists per game while shooting 54.3 percent from the floor for the No. 15 Engineers (8-1). WPI’s senior captain has earned NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors twice this season. The week of his first honor, ending on Nov. 17, the Rowley, Mass., native was listed to the D3hoops.com Team of the Week. Callahan averaged 17.3 points and 7.3 assists per game as the Engineers went 3-0 and won the Ted Coughlin Tournament Championship, where he was named Tournament MVP for the second consecutive season.

Jaylyn Clardy, Mitchell 

Guard, 6-2, Senior 

Clardy is averaging 22.8 points and 6.2 rebounds a night while shooting 48.2 percent from the field for Mitchell College (8-3). He earned GNAC Player of the Week honors on Nov. 18 as the Mariners won the Jim Beaudry Classic, hosted by the University of New England.

Clardy averaged 31 points and 10.5 rebounds across two games and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. He had a season-high 32 points on 11-for-21 shooting against Salve Regina. The senior guard followed it with 30 points, shooting 12 of 17 from the field against Maine Maritime. 

Javen Flowers-Smith, Nichols 

Guard, 6-0, Junior 

While Nichols (3-5) has struggled out of the gates, Flowers-Smith has been an elite scorer for the Bison. The junior guard is averaging 23.5 points per game on 46.2 percent shooting. In his most recent outing, a 97-77 win over Roger Williams on Dec. 7, Flowers-Smith dropped a career-high 44 points, the most in a single game by a Nichols College player since 1994. He also dished out eight assists and corralled five rebounds while connecting on 17 of 24 field goals. 

Flowers-Smith has earned CNE Player of the Week twice this season (Nov. 11 and Dec. 9). 

Scott Gyimesi, Tufts 

Forward, 6-6, Junior 

Gyimesi is averaging 15.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game while shooting 65 percent from the floor and 58.8 percent from 3. The junior forward has been named the NESCAC Player of the Week twice this season, leading the No. 10 Jumbos to a 9-1 start. 

Gyimesi was key in Tufts’ biggest win thus far, an 88-84 victory over Keene State on Dec. 4, scoring 23 points and hauling in 13 rebounds while connecting on 8 of 12 field goals. He matched his season-high 23 points the game prior, adding eight rebounds and five assists in an 86-51 victory over Emmanuel. 

Ousmane Kourouma, Rhode Island College 

Forward, 6-7, Fifth Year 

Kourouma is averaging 22.1 points and 14.9 rebounds per game on 61.5 percent shooting, leading the Anchormen to a 7-4 record and a 3-0 start to Little East Conference play. The Woonsocket, R.I., native has earned LEC Player of the Week honors twice this season (Dec. 2 and Dec. 9). 

Kourouma averaged 26.5 points and 14 rebounds on 20-for-34 shooting as Rhode Island College went 1-1 for his first Player of the Week honor. He again shot 20 for 34 across two games the following week, anchoring the Anchormen to a 2-0 week while notching 24.5 points and 19.5 rebounds a night.

Owen Liss, Norwich 

Forward, 6-6, Senior 

Liss, averaging 25.3 points and 7.1 rebounds on 59.7 percent shooting, has cemented himself in Norwich (7-1) history to open his senior season. The forward from West Suffield, Conn., became Norwich’s first-ever USBWA Division 3 National Player of the Week on Dec. 10. 

Liss scored 32 points on 11-for-15 from the floor against Vermont State Randolph. He followed it up by joining the 1,000-point club with a stat line of 32 points, nine rebounds, five blocks, five assists, and two steals in an 88-71 win over Elmira on Dec. 7. Liss earned back-to-back GNAC Player of the Week honors on Dec. 9 and Dec. 16.

Cameron Perkins, UMass Boston 

Forward, 6-5, Freshman 

As a true freshman, Perkins leads the LEC in points per game. He is scoring 25.8 points a night on 62.9 percent shooting and 52.2 percent from deep while corralling 7.7 rebounds per game for the Beacons (5-2). The freshman from Danbury, Conn., earned his first LEC Rookie of the Week on Dec. 2. Perkins averaged 26.5 points on 59 percent shooting and drilled a game-winning 3 with 1.1 seconds remaining against Western Connecticut as the Beacons went 2-0. He became a back-to-back Rookie of the Week on Dec. 9, highlighted by a career-high 35 points on 12-for-19 shooting against Rhode Island College. 

Keenan Robertson, Suffolk 

Guard/Forward, 6-5, Senior 

A member of Suffolk’s 1,000-point club, Robertson is averaging 22.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while shooting 56.1 percent from the field for the Rams (6-2). The senior captain recorded a career-high 32 points on 11-for-18 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in a 77-73 victory over Endicott on Dec. 10. Robertson earned his second CNE Player of the Week award for his career night. His prior Player of the Week nod was announced on Nov. 18 following a 30-point, 14-rebound double-double while shooting 13-for-18 from the field in a 74-60 win against Salem State.

Henry Vetter, Trinity 

Guard, 6-5, Junior 

Trinity is off to a dominant 9-0 start, winning by an average of 28 points per game after reaching the Final Four a year ago. While the Bantams, ranked third in the nation, have four scorers averaging over 10 points, Vetter has led the way scoring 15.1 points a night on 45.1 percent shooting. A 2023-24 First Team selection in the NESCAC and on the D3hoops.com All-Region team, he is picking up right where he left off. The Canterbury School alum notched a season-high 26 points on 11 of 18 shooting in a 78-55 victory over Regis on Dec. 3.