Casey Burr, Ethan Conway named MVPs as EABL award winners announced

Derby’s Casey Burr and Barking Abbey’s Ethan Conway were both crowned 2024/25 EABL MVPs as the league’s end-of-season awards were announced.

Burr averaged a league second-best 21.2 points per game in his debut EABL campaign, impressing coaches across the league despite Derby finishing fourth in the North with a 2-8 record. He ranked third in efficiency and also cracked the top 10 for steals with 2.2 per outing. The Derby standout edged out Manchester’s Demi Babalola, with BMet’s Nektarios Papadopoulos rounding out the top three vote-getters.

In the South, Conway helped Barking to an unbeaten regular season, putting up a well-rounded stat line of 14.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game. He also finished in the top 10 for three-point percentage, hitting 34.5% from beyond the arc. The BA guard just pipped teammate Amarlie Wilkinson to the award, with JMA’s Isaac Spurrier finishing third.

Myerscough’s Neal Hopkins collected his fifth EABL Coach of the Year award in the North after guiding his side to their first conference title since 2022/23. Hopkins’ teams have previously claimed the honour in 2013/14, 2014/15, 2017/18 and 2019/20, and his team’s performances and style of play earned praise from across the league. SGS’ Chris Bourne finished second in the voting, with Charnwood’s Louis Chamberlain taking third.

In the South, Barking’s first-year head coach Rikki Broadmore was recognised for his team’s perfect record and the development of a number of players throughout the year. Conway, Wilkinson, Kervy Mabaya and Lewis Obiorah all flourished under Broadmore’s guidance, making him a worthy winner. Itchen’s Matt Guymon and last year’s winner Jay Williams completed the top three.

There was a Barking double in the South as Amarlie Wilkinson picked up Defensive Player of the Year honours for the second straight season. Helping anchor the best defence in the league, Wilkinson led the EABL with 3.5 steals per game as Barking held opponents to just 55.4 points per contest. In the North, Nektarios Papadopoulos took the award after leading BMet with 2.1 steals and 4.3 defensive rebounds per game, narrowly beating out Charnwood’s Caiden Ross.

SGS’ Ashton Dyer and Itchen’s Jakub Ofman were this season’s Most Improved Player winners. Dyer top-scored for the Bristol programme with 13.7 points per game while adding 5.5 rebounds, while Ofman averaged 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds despite ranking fourth on his team in minutes played, showing his growing influence on the South coast.

The U17 Players of the Year were Derby’s Casey Burr – who added the award to his MVP crown – and Barking’s Obinna Ekufu. While Burr’s breakout debut season made him an obvious pick, Ekufu carved out a valuable role on a stacked Barking team, averaging 11.9 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

Burr was joined in the Northern Conference All-First Team by Manchester duo Demi Babalola and Jack Walton. Babalola led the league in efficiency with 19.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, while Walton averaged 14.2 points and dished out 5.7 assists per game, hitting 41.3% from three-point range – the second-best mark in the league. Myerscough’s Junior Sanchez (12.7PPG, 7.3RPG, 2.7APG) and BMet’s Nektarios Papadopoulos, who led the league in scoring with 21.8 points per game, rounded out the five.

Ethan Conway headlined the Southern Conference All-First Team alongside teammate Amarlie Wilkinson, who averaged 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.5 steals per game to lead the league in that category. JMA pair Isaac Spurrier (20.7PPG) and Ethan Round (19.4PPG, 4.0APG, 2.7SPG) both earned their spots with standout campaigns, while CoLA’s Isaac Fiagbe completed the team after averaging a double-double with 16.7 points and 10.0 rebounds per game, ranking fifth in the league for efficiency.

The North’s All-Second Team featured Myerscough’s Marcus Robinson (13.5PPG, 4.9APG), Charnwood duo Lewis Malcolm (13.8PPG, 8.5RPG) and Caiden Ross (14.6PPG, 4.5RPG, 2.6SPG), BMet’s Larry Duru (16.6PPG, 10.2RPG) and Manchester’s Ronney Ani (15.8PPG, 6.9RPG).

In the South, Itchen duo Jaiden Dawes (13.0PPG, 9.7RPG) and Joe Lloyd (14.0PPG, 1.6SPG) were selected, alongside Barking’s Kervy Mabaya (15.4PPG, 8.2RPG), JMA’s Gavin Mitchell (17.4PPG, 10.5RPG), who was the league’s second-best rebounder, and CoLA guard Khyle Capanzana, who made back-to-back second team appearances after averaging 9.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

The full list of award winners can be seen below:

Northern Conference

MVP: Casey Burr (Derby)
Coach of the Year: Neal Hopkins (Myerscough)
Defensive Player: Nektarios Papadopoulos (BMet)
Most Improved: Ashton Dyer (SGS)
U17 Player: Casey Burr (Derby)

All-First Team: Casey Burr (Derby), Demi Babalola (Manchester), Jack Walton (Manchester), Junior Sanchez (Myerscough), Nektarios Papadopoulos (BMet)

All-Second Team: Marcus Robinson (Myerscough), Lewis Malcolm (Charnwood), Caiden Ross (Charnwood), Larry Duru (BMet), Ronney Ani (Manchester)

Southern Conference

MVP: Ethan Conway (Barking Abbey)
Coach of the Year: Rikki Broadmore (Barking Abbey)
Defensive Player: Amarlie Wilkinson (Barking Abbey)
Most Improved: Jakub Ofman (Itchen)
U17 Player: Obinna Ekufu (Barking Abbey)

All-First Team: Ethan Conway (Barking Abbey), Amarlie Wilkinson (Barking Abbey), Isaac Spurrier (JMA), Ethan Round (JMA), Isaac Fiagbe (CoLA)

All-Second Team: Jaiden Dawes (Itchen), Joe Lloyd (Itchen), Kervy Mabaya (Barking Abbey), Gavin Mitchell (JMA), Khyle Capanzana (CoLA)

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