NEW UK — The EC Goodwin Tech Gladiators men's basketball team was represented on the Connecticut Technical Conference's all-conference team.
Juniors Nazir Russell and Amare Robinson headlined the selections, while senior Hirzimo Redzepagic was named honorable mention.
The Gladiators finished the season with a record of 14 wins and 6 losses, placing them second in the conference.
Goodwin Tech lost to Windham Tech in the first round of the CTC tournament and then again to Career Magnet in the first round of the CIAC Division IV state tournament.
Tournament loss aside, it was a very successful season for the Gladiators and head coach Joe Freundlich.
Freundlich said he doesn't care about postseason awards and just expects to compete as a unit.
“Coming into the season, I wasn't focused on who had a chance of earning all-conference honors,” he said. “My expectation was that we would come out and compete as a team, and if we could do that and have that mindset together, we would have one or more athletes earn All-Conference honors.” I was confident that it would be almost guaranteed.”
Russell said he is taking a shot at that honor after missing his sophomore season.
“After not playing my second season due to injury, I had a chip on my shoulder and felt like I had to prove something,” he said.
Robinson echoed the sentiment that he had something to prove. He said he felt disrespected in his second season and wants to leave no doubts this season.
“I felt like I deserved it last year,” Robinson said. “Unfortunately I wasn't selected. I felt I worked on my game enough to be able to come out this year and be successful and contribute more to the team's competition.”
Russell's high point of his season was a 57-54 loss to Goodwin Tech in Plainville in mid-January, when he scored 27 points.
“It was a great, competitive game,” he said. “It really helped us as a team. It was nice to know we could participate in different competitions outside of vocational school.”
Robinson's season highlight came against Prince Tech, where he scored 30 points and hit six 3-pointers. He said this performance best represented him as a basketball player.
“It felt great because I just missed a few shots and gave my team the win,” Robinson said.
Freundlich said he feels the team's togetherness led to a successful year both individually and as a team.
“With that mindset, we were able to have a successful season,” Freundlich said.
