Jamal Frenchwood earns Newcomer of the Year, Nick Stone named Freshman of the Year and CSUM received three All-Cal Pac awards
MERCED, Calif. – A busy weekend for men's basketball began on a positive note when league officials announced the recipients of this year's specialty awards and all-conference selections during Thursday night's Basketball Championship Banquet in Merced. Jamal Frenchwood was selected Newcomer of the Year, the second Keelhauler in the program's history to receive this honor, and Nick Stone became the fourth CSUM player in the school's recorded history to nab Freshman of the Year accolades.
When the All-Cal Pac selections were announced, Frenchwood earned a spot on the First Team, Lawrence Long received Second Team distinction and Lucky Hampton became a back-to-back selection by earning Honorable Mention.
Outside of Hampton, men's basketball's award recipients were honored for the first time in their respective careers.
Cal Maritime's 2025 all-conference selections matches the program's total from the last three seasons combined.
Until Thursday night, Isaiah Moore was Cal Maritime's lone recipient of the Cal Pac's Newcomer of the Year award when bestowed at the end of the 2010-11 season. By also earning First Team honors, Frenchwood became the first Keelhauler since Eric Norton to collect a specialty award and the highest All-Cal Pac distinction in the same season.
Norton received his honors — Defender of the Year and All-Cal Pac First Team — at the league's 2022 Championship Banquet.
Frenchwood, a senior forward from Newark was a triple threat from the moment he stepped onto the court. Known across the league for his prowess in the paint on both sides of the court, he led the Keelhaulers in points (13.0), rebounds (5.6) and assists (2.5) per game, averages that ranked him eighth, seventh and fourth overall among all Cal Pac players per game.
Not only did he hit 38 threes this season, a total that placed him fourth in the league (his 25 3FGM made during league play was the No. 1 figure), his .392 percentage from distance was the sixth highest this season.
His .481 clip from three against conference foes ranked him No. 3 in the Cal Pac.
With his accolade, Stone joins Zavier Lucero (2017-18) Jordan Birchell (2009-10) and Zac Kinman (2008-09) as CSUM's Freshman of the Year selections.
Providing head coach Colin Johnson with another threat from three, nobody held a higher shooting percentage from behind the arc for the season than Stone and his .406 percentage.
Hailing from Sacramento, the first-year guard averaged 6.8 ppg, recorded 26 of 52 baskets from distance and scored double figures in five games, highlighted by his career-high 15-point performance at Nelson-Arizona.
Even though he only played 12 games this season and did not make his CSUM debut until January 18, Long's Second Team honors highlight the senior forward from Oakland's impact made within a short amount of time.
Long's five blocks against Cal Pac teams is the fourth-highest total in the league entering this weekend's playoffs; his 15 offensive rebounds and .507 field goal percentage ranks him eighth and 15th, respectively.
Averaging 10.8 ppg, the second-highest average among all Keelhaulers, his overall shooting percentage was the second highest on the team.
Forced to miss seven games early in the season due to injury, Hampton positively impacted CSUM's season once he returned to the court for the rest of the season.
In addition to averaging 8.4 ppg, his 10 blocked shots was the fifth-highest individual total this season — and the local talent from Richmond only played 19 of the team's 24 games.
Responsible for the fourth-highest overall shooting percentage (.391), third-highest from three (.338) and fifth-highest among all Keelhaulers at the line (.789), Hampton's versatile skill set is a key reason why Cal Maritime ended the season on a three-game win streak and clinched its spot in the Cal Pac Men's Basketball Championship at home, versus rival Pacific Union, on the final day of the season.
Playing its best basketball at the right time of the season, Cal Maritime will face UC Merced in Friday's 8 p.m. semifinal with the winner advancing to Sunday's 3 p.m. championship game against the winner of the other men's semifinal, Westcliff vs. La Sierra.
All the links and information basketball fane need to know prior to Friday's postseason game is available on GoKeelhaulers.com or the men's basketball schedule page.