From University of Rochester Athletics
University of Rochester senior center Ryan Algier has been named First Team Academic All-District III for men's basketball after voting by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). By earning First Team All-District honors, Algier will advance to the national ballot for consideration as an Academic All-American.
This is the second consecutive year that Algier earned First Team All-District honors from CoSIDA. District III encompasses all of the Division III colleges in New York State. It is the only one of the eight districts that has just one state.
Since the end of the abbreviated 2020-21 season, Algier has collected a number of significant honors for his basketball prowess and his academic achievements.
He was named a Second Team All-American by D3hoops.com, the leading small college basketball website. The honor arrived on the heels of two major All-Region awards from D3hoops.com – Player of the Year for the East/Northeast Regions and First Team All-Region. He is a native of Fairport, N.Y. and an alumnus of Fairport High School.
With the unusual Division III basketball schedules across the nation, the website decided to select a combined Northeast/East Region all-star team. The Northeast Region covers the New England schools. The East Region is for New York State teams. D3hoops.com did this with its Atlantic and Middle Atlantic regions as well. The other four regions each had their own All-Region honors without any combinations.
In mid-April, he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the internationally renowned honor society. Algier is a double major in data science and business. He was a Teaching Assistant last fall for a data science class titled Data Mining. As a junior, he was a Provost's Circle Scholar, signifying the top junior student-athletes. Last fall, he was named a Lysle "Spike" Garnish Scholar-Athlete as one of the top 10 student-athletes.
He completed a research-based project for the Associate Vice Provost for Career Education Initiatives and the Associate Dean of the College involving cleaning and merging data from over 10 sources to identify a knowledge base for student's summer involvements. I provided preliminary analysis of trends and gaps for better allocation of Career Center Resources.
Rochester was able to play six games in an abbreviated college season in 2020-21. The Yellowjackets played four 'home' games at the Blue Cross Arena in downtown Rochester (Yeshiva University, Clarkson University, St. John Fisher College, Medaille College). The Yellowjackets played on the road at Bryant & Stratton College in Buffalo as well as at Nazareth College. UR won four of the six outings.
Algier was one of two East Region players named to the All-Region team. The other eight selections came from Northeast Region institutions. In six games, he averaged a career-high 19.3 ppg. in 22.3 minutes per game. He shot 68.7% from the floor, 67.7% from the line. His top floor performances came against then-eighth-ranked Yeshiva University (6-7 FGs, 8-9 FTs, 20 points), against Clarkson University (10-12 FGs, 22 pts., 13 rebounds), and Medaille College (28 pts., 12-14 FGs, nine rebounds, four blocks). His percentage of 68.7% from the field is the second highest percentage in school history for a single-season. Algier holds the top mark of 69.1% set in his sophomore season.
He was selected as a pre-season All-American by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association in the fall. That came shortly after his junior year when he was named First Team All-UAA, First Team All-East Region by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, and Third Team All-America by the NABC. He was also named an All-American by Small College Hoops (DIIINews). D3hoops.com named him a Second Team All-East honoree in 2019-20.
Algier has 736 career points, 369 rebounds, 82 assists, 96 blocked shots, and 41 steals. His career field goal percentage is .656 (305-465). He will have the opportunity to build on those numbers in the 2021-22 season.