2023-24 AUS men's basketball major awards and all-stars announced
Dalhousie's Christie named AUS Most Valuable Player
(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 Commerce 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.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Koat Thomas, STFX X-Men
The 2023-24 AUS Rookie of the Year is Koat Thomas from the STFX X-Men.
A six-foot-six guard from Waterloo, Ont., Thomas started 14 games for the X-Men this season, helping them to a league-best 12-8 record and a first-round bye through to the semifinals of the AUS playoffs.
Thomas, a Human Kinetics student, averaged 8.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game – his best performance coming on Jan. 31 when he scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in an 87-80 victory over the Acadia Axemen.
He becomes the first X-Men to win the AUS Rookie of the Year since Avan Nava did so back in the 2019-20 season.
Thomas will now represent the conference as the AUS nominee for the Dr. Peter Mullins trophy as U SPORTS Rookie of the Year.
The last player from the Atlantic conference to be named U SPORTS rookie of the year was Saint Mary's Nikita Kasongo, who took home the award in 2017-18.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Javordo Mitchell, UNB Reds
Javordo Mitchell of the UNB Reds is the 2023-24 AUS Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Year.
The third-year centre from Woodbridge, Ont., averaged 10.8 points and 10.8 rebounds per game this season. He led the conference in total rebounds (215), defensive rebounds (141) and blocks (59).
Across U SPORTS, his block total ranked second overall, while his total rebounds placed him third.
The Bachelor of Arts student led the Reds to a 10-10 record this season, earning the No. 4 seed going into the AUS playoffs.
Mitchell becomes the first UNB Reds player to win this honour since its inception in 2004-05.
He now becomes the AUS conference nominee for the U SPORTS Defensive Player of the Year award. The last AUS player to earn the distinction was STFX's David Muenkat in 2022-23.
STUDENT-ATHLETE COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD: Mitchell Mersereau, CBU Capers
Mitchell Mersereau of the CBU Capers is the 2023-24 recipient of the AUS Student-Athlete Community Service Award and will be the Atlantic conference nominee for the prestigious Ken Shields Award.
As team captain this season, Mersereau started all 20 games for the Capers, averaging 11.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.
In the classroom, he was even better. The three-time Academic All-Canadian and three-time member of the Dean's List has a 93% average this year as he studies to become a physiotherapist.
But it might be in the community where Mersereau does his best work.
He has been the manager for the Youth in Motion program on campus for the past two years. The program welcomes elementary school students on campus to take part in physical activity skills, drills and games. He is also the lead student coach at all Capers basketball camps and Monday night basketball schools.
Mersereau also created an afterschool program for youth boys at Coxheath Elementary School, which involved the mentoring of 10 at-risk youth in behaviour, sports and weekly initiatives.
As student lead for the CBU Capers Men's Basketball in School program, he brings along teammates to teach children the importance of physical activity, sleep, hydration and nutrition.
He was integral in jumpstarting Basketball Cape Breton's Wheelchair basketball program – running a promotional event to help it move forward. To top it all off, he volunteers with enhanced care elderly, working closely with administrators to help with physical activity tasks and bring them to Capers games.
"Mitchell is a tribute to what an all-around student athlete is. He has ties to CBU and the island being a local player, while both of his parents are employees at CBU," said Capers head coach, Matt Skinn. "The orange and green runs strong in his family and he uses every day to give back to the community. He knows, first-hand, the impact CBU Capers student-athletes can have on their community, as he once looked up to them. Now, he has become the epitome of a role model for the youth of Cape Breton Island."
"As one of the top students at the university, he most recently was selected as the guest speaker for our Academic All-Canadian Brunch, where he spoke of the impact he hopes all student-athletes can make during their time as a Caper."
Mersereau joins fellow Capers Osman Omar (2021-22), Scott Jaspers-Fayer (2010-11) and Mark McGarrigle (2007-08) as CBU recipients of this award, and now becomes the AUS nominee for the national Ken Shields Award.
Former Dalhousie Tigers standout Sven Stammberger was the conference's most recent winner in 2017-18.
COACH OF THE YEAR: Jonah Taussig, Saint Mary's Huskies
For the second time in his AUS men's basketball head coaching career, Saint Mary's bench boss Jonah Taussig has been named the conference's Coach of the Year.
Taussig, who also won the award back in 2018-19, led the Huskies to an 11-9 record after going into the holiday break at just 2-6. His team started the new year with seven straight wins, which helped them to a third-place finish in the AUS standings.
Coach Taussig's Huskies enter the AUS championship looking for their first title since 2013-14.
Taussig joins Ross Quackenbush (1989-90, 1992-93) and Gary Heald (1979-80, 1981-82, 1983-84) as SMU head coaches who have been named the league's top bench boss.
He will now represent the AUS as the nominee for U SPORTS Coach of the Year. The most recent Atlantic conference coach to be named U SPORTS Coach of the Year was Dalhousie's Rick Plato in 2019-20.
2023-24 AUS FIRST AND SECOND TEAM ALL-STARS AND ALL-ROOKIE TEAM 
First Team All-Stars
Malcolm Christie, Dalhousie, (3rd year – Fredericton, N.B.)
Dondre Reddick, STFX, (4th year – Antigonish, N.S.)
Glen Cox, Acadia, (3rd year – Scotsburn, N.S.)
Jayrell Diggs, Saint Mary's, (3rd year – East Preston, N.S.)
Flynn Boardman-Raffet, Memorial, (3rd year – London, UK)
Second Team All-Stars
Kamari Scott, UPEI, (4th year – Malton, Ont.)
Shak Pryce, Cape Breton, (4th year – Pickering, Ont.)
Marc Denault-Gabriel, Saint Mary's, (3rd year – Montreal, Que.)
Norm Burry, UNB, (3rd year – Grafton, N.B.)
Marcus Barnes, UNB, (2nd 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.