WASHINGTON, D.C.– Senior guard Joseph Nickerson is now the University of the District of Columbia's first ever NCAA Division II statistical champion in the sport of men's basketball and the sixth Firebird statistical champion across all sports, as he led the nation at the completion of the 2016-17 season with a steals-per-game average of 3.20.
Nickerson is the first Firebird NCAA Division II statistical champion in any sport since women's basketball standout Lillian McGill ('11) earned the title in 2010 for rebounding with 12.2 rebounds per-game during the 2009-10 season. Including McGill, all five of the school's previous statistical champions have been women's basketball student-athletes: Takia Barnes ('01) was the three-point field goal statistical champion in 2001 with 86; Lorraine Lynch ('96), UDC Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2015, was the steals (5.3 per-game) and assists (9.4 per-game) statistical champion in 1994; and Valerie Curtis was the steals statistical champion in 1993 with 6.1 steals per-game.
Nickerson, a First Team All-East Coast Conference honoree, had at least one steal in 24 of his 25 games played, including multiple steals in 21 games. He had a career-high seven steals in a 79-64 Firebirds victory vs. Mercy on February 19th, and he had six steals in UDC's 108-89 win over NYIT on February 11th.
The Newark, NJ native also finished 3rd in the ECC in scoring (20.2 points per-game), 6th in rebounding (7.3 rebounds per-game), 2nd in free-throw percentage (86.9), and 12th in three-point field goal percentage (39.6).
Nickerson played two seasons with the Firebirds after transferring from Brookdale Community College in New Jersey. In his illustrious four year career, including his statistics over two years at Brookdale CC, Nickerson finished with 1,769 points, 664 rebounds, 325 assists and 282 steals. He also led the Firebirds to back-to-back winning seasons and consecutive ECC Tournament appearances, snapping a three-year drought for UDC.
UNIVERSITY OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SPORTS INFORMATION
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