2012-13 Preview: America East

Tommy Brenton missed all of 2010-11 after dislocating his kneecap, but bounced back with an impressive season for Stony Brook a year ago. While his numbers don’t jump off the page, Brenton was named the America East defensive player of the year — highlighted by his 54 steals. He’s the Seawolves Mr. Do It All, even leading the team in assists, while finishing as the league’s leading rebounder. The 6-foot-5 forward already is Stony Brook’s Division I career rebound leader and ranks second on the all-time list.

Despite not being eligible for the conference tournament in its final season before moving to the Patriot League, Boston University has one of the most dynamic players in the league. D.J. Irving became the first Terrier to lead the conference in assists since Steven Key in 1990, with his total of 157 landing on the school’s top 10 list for a single season. Irving psted a career-high 23 points along with 11 assists at Maine for his first career double-double. It marked the first point-assist double-double by a Terrier since LeVar Folk had one in 1998

UMBC only won four games in 2011-12, but it wasn’t Chase Plummer’s fault. Plummer finished the season fourth in scoring and fifth in rebounding in the league, becoming the only player in the America East to rank in the top five in both categories. The forward is the league’s top returning scorer after becoming just the fourth sophomore in school history to score 400 points in a season. His 446 points was one shy of a school sophomore record..