2018 -- S 2631

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LC005259

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2018

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

CONGRATULATING THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND MEN'S BASKETBALL

TEAM FOR WINNING ITS FIRST OUTRIGHT ATLANTIC 10 REGULAR SEASON

CHAMPIONSHIP IN THE SCHOOL'S HISTORY, FOR MAKING IT TO THE FINALS OF

THE ATLANTIC 10 CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT, AND FOR EARNING THE NUMBER

7 SEED IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT, THE HIGHEST SEED IN THE SCHOOL'S

HISTORY

     Introduced By: Senators Jabour, Sosnowski, Ruggerio, Algiere, and Lombardi

     Date Introduced: March 14, 2018

     Referred To: Recommended for Immediate Consideration

     WHEREAS, The University of Rhode Island Men’s Basketball Team is in the midst of

one of its most successful seasons in program history. The Basketball Team compiled an

outstanding 25-7 regular season record which included a 15-3 first place record in the Atlantic 10

Conference and the program’s first ever outright Atlantic 10 Men’s Basketball regular season

championship. The team spent much of the regular season ranked within the top 25 national polls

and culminated their regular season with a place in the finals of the Atlantic 10 Conference

Tournament; and

     WHEREAS, The Rams were led all season by a deep and talented veteran roster with a

fierce desire to make their mark on the national collegiate college basketball landscape. Senior

Guard Jared Terrell led the squad in scoring, averaging 17.2 points per game and hitting 82.4

percent of his free throws. For his excellent play and sterling leadership, Jared Terrell earned First

Team All-Conference honors. Senior Guard E.C. Matthews also earned conference honors when

he was selected as a Third Team All-Conference choice. He finished second on the team in points

scored, averaging 13.1 points per game and hitting 74.7 percent of his free throws. The Rams

were also aided all season by the contributions of Point Guard Jeff Dowtin, who led the team in

assists with 5.5 per game and chipped in with 9.7 points per game, and the tough defense

provided by Senior Stanford Robinson, who was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team,

and averaged 9.1 points per game and led the team in rebounding averaging 5.7 per game.

Additionally, the Rams were a deep team that regularly had eight players getting significant

minutes per game, thereby often wearing down the opposition. Rhode Island could not have

maintained the pace of play they exhibited all season without the important contributions

provided by Freshman Guard Fatts Russell, Sophomore Forward Cyril Langevine, Senior

Forward Andre Berry, and Senior Guard Jarvis Garrett; and

     WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Rams Basketball Team has been fortunate to have been

led for the last six seasons, since the 2012-2013 season, by Head Coach Dan Hurley. During his

tenure at the University of Rhode Island, he has led the Rams twice to the NCAA Tournament

and once to the NIT. For the current 2017-2018 season, Coach Hurley was named the 2018

Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year. Under his direction, guidance and leadership, this season the Rams

won their first outright Atlantic 10 regular season conference championship, set a program record

with 15 Atlantic 10 Conference victories, and tied program records for most home wins with 15,

most road conference wins with 7, and had a 16 game winning streak, the second longest in

program history. Also, this season’s Rams were ranked in the top 25 for both national polls for

the last seven weeks of the regular season, the longest such streak in the history of Rhode Island

Rams Men’s Basketball program; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

hereby congratulates the University of Rhode Island Men’s Basketball Team for winning its first

outright Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship in the school’s history, for making it to the

finals of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament, and for earning the number 7 seed in the NCAA

Tournament, the highest in the school’s history. We furthermore wish the Rhode Island Rams

well in the NCAA Tournament and will be cheering them on to victory against Oklahoma in the

first round of the NCAA Tournament; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to Mr. Dan Hurley, Head Coach, University of

Rhode Island Men’s Basketball Team.

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