Men’s basketball team members Seth Hinrichs ’15 (left) and Joey Ptasinski ’15 were named to the 2013-14 National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court. Awardees must achieve a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or higher. Hinrichs also was selected to the 2014-15 preseason All-Patriot League Team.
Hinrichs was a Third Team All-Patriot League selection last season after leading Lafayette in scoring (16.7 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg). The Minnesota native also was selected to the Academic All-Patriot League Team. An economics major, he says what is most meaningful to him about being a student-athlete is the relationships he has built in the community, at school, and on the team. “I love the community for all of its support at games, whether we are winning or losing.”
He adds that the College has fostered an environment that has enabled him to get to know student-athletes on other teams besides his own. “The relationships I have built with not only my peers but also the community surrounding Lafayette will last me a lifetime, and I am grateful.”
Ptasinski, also an Academic All-Patriot League selection, finished the season with a career-best 11.6 points per game. A biology major, he plans to attend medical school but also is considering playing professional basketball for a year beforehand. In his home state of Colorado, he has shadowed and done research for surgeons and family medicine doctors and will be shadowing an internist in Allentown this year.
“Because approximately 25 percent of students here are athletes, we all understand what each other is going through and the chaotic schedules we live every day,” says Ptasinski. “As a basketball team, we are extremely close, but we are also close as an overall student-athlete community.”