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Spencer Freedman of NYU Named Top Player in Region 4; Dave Klatsky Chosen as Regional Coach of the Year

Spencer Freedman of NYU Named Top Player in Region 4; Dave Klatsky Chosen as Regional Coach of the Year

From NYU Athletics

New York University's Spencer Freedman was named the D3hoops.com Region 4 Men's Basketball Most Outstanding Player while Dave Klatsky was tabbed Region 4 Coach of the Year.

Freedman also landed on the D3hoops.com Region 4 First Team and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) District 4 First Team, adding to his First Team All-University Athletic Association (UAA) honors. Klatsky and assistants Chris ThompsonMaurice Kearney and Ethan Feldman received UAA Coaching Staff of the Year accolades last month as well.

Freedman, a graduate transfer from Harvard University, made an immediate impact for the Violets averaging 17.0 points, 5.6 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. He led Division III in three-point percentage (50.4) while shooting 53.4 percent from the field and 83.7 percent at the stripe. Freedman ranked second in the UAA in assists per game, second in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.39) and third in scoring.

The California native scored in double figures in all but four of his 26 outings, recording 20-or-more points nine times. Freedman dropped a career-high 26 points twice this year and posted a 23-point, 13-assist double-double against Old Westbury on November 28. The 13 assists tied for the second-most in a game in program history while he dished out five-or-more assists on 17 occasions.

Freedman's 50.4 three-point percentage in 2022-23 is the third-best single-season mark in program history while his 70 three-pointers made and 146 assists both rank sixth all-time in a single season.

Klatsky had an impressive debut season at the helm of the Violets, finishing 18-8 for the most wins by a first-year head coach in program history. NYU was picked to finish last in the UAA's Preseason Coaches Poll and proceeded to place fourth with a 7-7 league record, earning the team's most Association victories since 2015-16 and finishing .500-or-above in the league for the first time since that year as well.

The Violets also made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2015-16 while Klatsky became the second NYU head coach to ever win UAA Coaching Staff of the Year, joining Joe Nesci who won the award three times.

As a team, NYU led Division III in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.60), ranked fourth in three-point percentage (39.7), fourth in three-pointers per game (12.2), ninth in free-throw percentage (77.4) and 18th in scoring margin (13.5).