The Robert Morris men’s basketball had its best season in the Horizon League since joining in 2020. The program won its first regular season title and one seed in the tournament. Now, with the postseason looming, its key contributors are getting recognized with the conference’s annual honors.
Sophomore Alvaro Folgueiras won the conference’s Player of the Year, head coach Andy Toole won Coach of the Year, and Amarion Dickerson won Defensive Player of the Year.
Folgueiras was dominant towards the latter half of the season. He finished the regular season averaging 14.3 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting a conference-best 56.4% from the field. He put up 7.0 defensive rebounds per game, 12th best in the country. Folgueiras won Horizon League Player of the Week three times and scored a career-high 35 points in win at Northern Kentucky on Feb 8.
Folgueiras is the first Colonial ever to be named Horizon League Player of the Year and featured on the All-League First Team.
Dickerson has been a block machine all season, instantly becoming the best shot blockers in program history. He is ranked fifth in the country with 76 blocks and averaged 2.5 blocks per game, second in the league behind Youngstown State’s Gabe Dynes and 10th in the NCAA. He set a school record with eight blocks against Detroit Mercy on Feb 5, breaking his previous record of seven and becoming RMU’s single-season shot block leader in just 17 games this year.
The Mineral Area transfer posted career-highs of 27 points and 15 rebounds with five blocks in the triple overtime thriller against Northern Kentucky on December 29.
Dickerson is the program’s first winner of the award and is the first Colonial featured to the All-Defensive Team since Kahliel Spear in 2023.
Head coach Andy Toole was also recognized, winning his second conference Coach of the Year and first in the Horizon League, after previously winning NEC Coach of the Year in 2014.
In one year, Toole flipped his roster that had only 10 wins with adding many transfers like Woods, Dickerson, and Josh Omojafo, and a new-look coaching staff to the program’s most wins since 2013. RMU is currently ranked 22nd in the CollegeInsider Men’s Mid Major Top 25.
Senior Kam Woods was named to the Horizon League’s Second Team. Woods led the team in scoring with 14.6 points per game and second the conference in assists. The NC State transfer also came second in steals, with 46, proving his efforts without the ball.
With the Colonials being the top seed, the will wait to know their opponent after Tuesday’s first round action and will face the lowest remaining seed at home Thursday at 8 p.m.
