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Moon Township, Pa. – Turns out Karvel Anderson is an old hand at winning a Player of the Year award.
 
Did it in high school, too.
 
Also turns out that Anderson is a veteran of playing on short-handed teams.
 
Did that two seasons ago in junior college.
 
Partially because of that latter experience, the Robert Morris guard Tuesday was named the 2014 Northeast Conference Player of the Year.
 
Anderson joined RMU coach Andrew Toole and teammate Lucky Jones among Robert Morris honorees.
 
Toole was voted by his peers the 2014 NEC Jim Phelan Coach of the Year, while Jones made the 2014 All-NEC Second Team.
 
Anderson, a member of the All-NEC first team, won the Player of the Year award in what the league said was a "near unanimous" selection.
 
"I'm very thankful,'' Anderson said. "I think it goes to show all the hard work I've put in throughout my life and especially over the last two or three seasons (paid off). I can only thank my teammates and coach Toole for pushing me like they do and having the confidence in me to let me go out there and shoot the ball like I know I can. (They) put me in certain positions to be as successful as I've been. I just thank all the people around me for giving me that chance.''
 
That group includes Steve Proefrock, Anderson's coach at Glen Oaks Community College in Michigan.
 
"That's big-time,'' Proefrock said Tuesday when told Anderson had won the NEC's Player of the Year award. "Oh, wow. I couldn't be happier. He's a great basketball player, of course, but he's also done some great things in his life. I have nothing but incredible things to say about him. He faced insurmountable odds that he surmounted. He's like a son to me, and I'm like a proud father right now.''
 
"That makes me feel really good,'' Anderson said when informed of Proefrock's comments. "Steve is a great guy. Him and coach Toole have been big impacts on me because they mentor me in so many things not basketball-related. I think that helps my game on the court. They strengthen me mentally when it comes to being a man and being a human being and being a great person. It kind of carries over to how you play.''
 
Anderson, from Elkhart, Ind., this season against NEC opponents led the league with a scoring average of 21.7 points per game. He shot 52.3 percent from the field, including 47.4 percent from three-point range, and 88.7 percent from the free throw line. He set an RMU single-season record with 103 three-pointers and is seven points short of matching Myron Walker's single-season points record of 614.
 
All of that helped the Colonials finish 14-2 in the NEC and win their fifth regular-season championship in seven years.
 
"He's well deserving,'' Toole said. "Not only did he individually have a great season, but his team had a great regular season in conference. He was one of the most valuable aspects to that. I'm extremely happy for him because of all the hard work that he puts in and the way he carries himself and the way he prepares himself and the way that he works to be successful as an individual but also within the context of our team. He's as much a team guy as anything and has had a spectacular season.''
 
"I'm definitely happy for him,'' said Jones, a junior. "That's something we talked about. I told him, it's either him or me. I'm thankful he won. It puts me in the lineup for next year for what my ultimate goal is as well. I'm definitely happy for him. I told him congratulations. We sometimes butt heads on the court, but that's just because we want to make each other better.''
 
Anderson last season led the Colonials in scoring with a 12.5 average per game. That team included seniors Velton Jones and Russell Johnson, both of whom scored 1,000 career points, and Coron Williams, who transferred to Wake Forest.
 
Anderson became more aggressive offensively this season and raised his overall per-game average to 19.6.
 
"As a junior, you're adjusting coming into a new team,'' Toole said. "There were games last year where he was aggressive but not as many. We had some more guys who could score. We had more balanced scoring with Velton and Russell and Coron. He didn't always need to create shots for himself or be the guy we really relied on to score. This year, because of his ability to shoot and score, he's carved out a bigger niche for himself and become more comfortable at this level. He's been more aggressive, especially during conference play. What you've seen is really positive results, not only for him but for our program.''
 
Anderson also became more aggressive offensively because for various reasons the Colonials were left with only eight players for the final 12 games of the regular season.
 
That was nothing new for Anderson.
 
"We were down to seven players for our last seven games (in 2011-12),'' Proefrock said. "We won six of our last seven. Karvel was playing 40 minutes a game.''
 
Or more.
 
"I remember my last juco game I played like 60 minutes,'' Anderson said. "We went to four overtimes with seven guys.''
 
Anderson said he'd forgotten about that short-handed situation at Glen Oaks until he talked by phone with Proefrock two or three weeks ago.
 
"He reminded me about it,'' Anderson said. "I'm like, 'Dang, I've done it before.' The competition and the talent level is different, but the circumstances are a little bit the same.''
 
Was there one NEC game after which Toole felt Anderson had pretty much wrapped up the Player of the Year award?
 
"The LIU (Brooklyn) game here,'' Toole said, referring to Anderson's 26-point second half in the Colonials' 73-64 win. "He had a great opening weekend in the league. He had some other good games, but I think what he did in that second half or that last 10 minutes of that LIU game really just kind of separated him from a lot of other players who were in contention. I think there were a lot of other good players who had great seasons, but I think what he did in that moment was pretty unique and obviously very special. I think that kind of gave him a boost when you talk about value to a team. For us, he's as valuable as it gets.''
 
Anderson also mentioned that LIU Brooklyn game.
 
"I know definitely after the first Sacred Heart game (in which he scored 36 points) I kind of was feeling myself a little bit,'' Anderson said. "I felt like I could do a little bit. Certain games, like the second half of the LIU game and even the (Saint Francis) Brooklyn game (31 points), stand out. There were certain games where in my mind I was one of the top players in the conference. That's all you can try to be.
 
"This is a very big accomplishment for me. It was something I kind of set my sights on at the beginning of the year. I don't mean (being) selfish and say that I wanted to be Player of the Year. It was just something that I wanted to work hard to get myself to that level of play. It's something I pushed toward every day. Whether I got it or not really didn't matter. It was a place I wanted to get my game to.''
 
Toole is in his fourth season as a head coach, all at Robert Morris. He's guided the Colonials to an overall record of 87-48, including 53-17 in NEC regular-season games, and to back-to-back NEC regular-season championships.
 
"I'm honored to have gotten the (Coach of the Year) award,'' Toole said, "but I think obviously it's a reflection of what our guys have done on the court (and) what our coaching staff has done -- you know, keeping everybody together, keeping them working and focused on what's important. It's really a culmination of what everybody does on a daily basis within the program, not necessarily what I do but what everyone does.''
 
"That's a big thing,'' Anderson said of Toole winning the coach award. "We talked about that last year, and we weren't able to get it because of the crazy Bryant turnaround.''
 
Bryant coach Tim O'Shea won the NEC Coach of the Year award last season after leading the Bulldogs to a record of 19-12 overall and 12-6 in the NEC. The season before, Bryant was 2-28 and 1-17.
 
"This year, me and (Anthony Myers-Pate) and Lucky wanted to see if we could be the first team to get coach Toole what he deserves,'' Anderson said. "Not only the Coach of the Year but the regular-season championship and hopefully his first head coaching bid to The Dance (the NCAA tournament). That's something we've been working for all season.''
 
"It's tremendous,'' Jones said. "He really worked so hard for this with the circumstances we have, the eight players. He's taking advantage of every opportunity we have. We just have to listen to him and continue to strive to get better each and every day. I'm proud of him … Coach of the Year in (just) four years. It's crazy.''
 
Jones this season against NEC teams averaged 12.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. He shot 76.7 percent from the free throw line en route to being named to the All-NEC Second Team.
 
"I'm just going to say that what was given was earned," Jones said. "At the end of the day, I wanted more, but we have a bigger accomplishment to go for right now, and that's winning the (NEC) tournament. We just have to take each day focused on what is our ultimate goal, and that's going to the NCAA Tournament. Right now, we have a great chance to do that. Playing on our home floor is a blessing. The individual accomplishment, you know, it is what it is.''
 
The Colonials begin play in the NEC Tournament tonight against Fairleigh Dickinson at the Charles L. Sewall Center. The teams met in their only regular-season game last Thursday night. Robert Morris won, 69-64, after trailing, 62-47, with 8:34 left.
 
Is it good to play FDU again so quickly?
 
"In some aspects, yes, and in some aspects, no,'' Toole said. "It's a good thing because obviously going through scouting report again, going through personnel, those things are fresh in their mind. Obviously, the fact that we were down by so many I think is an important aspect to relay to our team. They understand how good a team FDU is. How aggressive they're going to be on Wednesday night makes us stay sharp, and I think makes us understand that if we don't take care of business and execute the way we're capable, they're just as capable as anybody of beating us.''
 
The Knights are led by senior point guard Sidney Sanders Jr., who was named to the All-NEC First Team as well as the NEC's Most Improved Player.  He averages 18.9 points and 6.9 assists per game against NEC competition.
 
"He creates so much offense for them, whether it's through his penetration getting to the rim or his assists,'' Toole said. "He's a guy who gets to the free throw line a bunch. He's constantly putting the defense on their heels, and a lot of their other players play off of that, whether it's getting shots for their frontcourt guys or their three-point shooters. A lot of that stuff comes from him. He's ultra-aggressive on both ends of the floor, and he's constantly on the attack.''

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