With an average of 17.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game, Long Island's Julian Boyd has been named the Northeast Conference's 2012 Player of the Year.

Boyd is joined on the All-NEC First Team by teammate Jamal Olasewere, Sacred Heart's Shane Gibson, Ken Horton of Central Connecticut State and Velton Jones of Robert Morris.

On the All-NEC Second Team are Wagner's Latif Rivers and Tyler Murray, Quinnipiac's Ike Azotam and James Johnson, and Long Island's Jason Brickman.

The Defensive Player of the Year is sophomore guard Kenneth Ortiz of Wagner, while Scott Eatherton of St. Francis (PA) was recognized as the Most Improved Player.

Kyle Vinales of Central Connecticut State was named Rookie of the Year and was joined on the All-Rookie Team by Monmouth's Dion Nesmith, Jalen Cannon of St. Francis (NY), Ousmane Drame of Quinnipiac and Lucky Jones of Robert Morris.

Creighton's Doug McDermott has been named the 2012 Missouri Valley Player of the Year.

McDermott, who was the Freshman of the Year last season, averaged 23.1 points on 60.7% shooting and 8.1 rebounds per game.

Joining McDermott on the All-Conference First Team are Wichita State's Joe Ragland and Garrett Stutz, Kyle Weems of Missouri State and Colt Ryan of Evansville.

On the All-Conference Second Team are Drake's Rayvonte Rice and Ben Simons, Antoine Young of Creighton, Jackie Carmichael of Illinois State and Jake Odum of Indiana State.

Taylor Brown of Bradley, Denver Holmes of Evansville, Anthony James of Northern Iowa, Toure' Murry of Wichita State and Mamadou Seck of Southern Illinois received Honorable Mention.

Gregory Echenique of Creighton was named the Defensive Player of the Year and joined on the All-Defensive Team by Ben Smith, Toure' Murry, Troy Taylor and Carmichael.

Evansville's Ned Cox was named Sixth-Man of the Year and Sean Tuttle of Northern Iowa was Freshman of the Year.

Tuttle was joined on the All-Freshman Team by teammate Deon Mitchell, Dantiel Daniels of Southern Illinois, Nic Moore of Illinois State and Ryan Sawvell of Evansville.

Carl Hall of Wichita State was named Newcomer of the Year.

USC Upstate Torrey Craig has been named the 2012 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year.

Craig is a 6-foot-6 sophomore who averaged 17.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game while also recording at least one block, assist and steal.

Joining Craig on the All-Atlantic Sun First Team are Belmont's Ian Clark, Drew Hanlen and Kerron Johnson, along with Mercer's Langston Hall and Adam Sollazzo of East Tennessee State.

On the Second Team All-Atlantic Sun are Sherwood Brown of Florida Gulf Coast, Markeith Cummings of Kennesaw State, Mick Hedgepeth of Belmont, Adam Pegg of Stetson and Parker Smith of North Florida.

Ian Clark also was named Defensive Player of the Year, while USC Upstate's Ty Greene was Freshman of the Year.

Joining Greene on the All-Freshmen Team are teammate Bernard Thompson, Malcolm Smith of Lipscomb, Delbert Love of Kennesaw State and Brett Comer of Florida Gulf Coast.

While the Magic and other teams are interested in trading for Steve Nash, the Suns still won't deal him unless he requests it, according to a source.

Nash is set to become a free agent this summer, but has given no indication of any interest in being traded to a contender for the 2012 NBA Playoffs.

Mickell Gladness has been signed by the Heat to a second 10-day contract.

Gladness has appeared in eight games with the Heat this season.

Sean Rooks has been named an assistant coach of the Sioux Falls Skyforce for the remainder of the 2011-12 season. The 13-year NBA veteran has two seasons of coaching experience in the NBA Development League.

Rooks previously served as an assistant coach for the New Mexico Thunderbirds (2010-11) and Bakersfield Jam (2007-08). He briefly served as interim head coach of the Jam following the resignation of head coach Jim Harrick. He also worked in other capacities for the Jam as he was a television analyst at home games for two seasons and held the role of team mentor during the 2006-07 season.

Tyshawn Taylor is averaging 17.1 points while shooting a career-high 44 percent from beyond the arc.

Taylor’s improved shooting and playmaking abilities have led some scouts to believe he could be a difference maker at the NBA level.

"He's got speed," said one NBA scout. "He plays hard. He's improved his jump shot. He's starting to make better decisions with the basketball. I really think he can help a team off the bench."

NBA executives have had mixed reactions to Kendall Marshall.

Marshall has posted a very solid 3.7:1 assist-to-turnover ratio, but lacks next level athleticism.

"It just depends on what you want your point guard to do," one GM said. "There are so many hybrid guards that are succeeding in the league that everyone wants the next Derrick Rose. But I think there's a place for guys like Marshall. He makes everyone better. He's a leader. We love him. But he's not for everyone."

Shabazz Muhammad is expected to make an official visit to Duke this weekend.

Muhammad, a 6-foot-6 shooting guard from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman high school, has been heavily recruited by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Muhammad last week led Bishop Gorman to its third state championship in four years, scoring 30 of his 36 points in the first half as the Gaels rolled to a 96-51 win in the Class 4A boys state title game.

He is ranked No. 2 overall in the 2012 class.

Brandon Roy has been considering making a comeback.

'It's hard being away from the game," said Roy. "Don't be surprised if you see Brandon Roy make his way back to the court."

Roy's decision to retire wasn't all health related.

"There's something to it, but it's not the right time for me to get into it right now," Roy said. 'I've been doing some treatment and I'm trying to leave the window open to returning to basketball."