Princeton alumnus Bill Bradley, Yale graduate Chris Dudley and Pennsylvania product Matt Maloney. A Hall of Famer and a senator, the worst free throw shooter in NBA history and a role player in the Houston Rockets's NBA championship. What could these three possibly have in common?
All three were former Ancient Eight stars that were named to the all-Ivy team three times, and they all moved on to professional careers. None of these three, though, achieved those two tasks and completed the trifecta, being named The Dartmouth's Athlete of the Year.
Shaun Gee '00 is a third of the way there.
Gee, the Ivy League's leading scorer last season with an average of 18.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, is The Dartmouth's 1998 Male Athlete of the Year.
Out of Palmer, Neb., Gee received the Big Green's Dolly Stark Award as the squad's most valuable player in 1997-98.
Gee averaged 19.7 points per game in Ancient Eight affairs to win the conference's scoring crown.
"I've never witnessed as dramatic improvement as Shaun Gee showed this season," Dartmouth head coach Dave Faucher said during the Big Green's award night. "He truly dedicated himself to improving. His work ethic and discipline are lessons for the entire team, and we'll be counting on his leadership next year."
Gee will be the youthful squad's captain next season as they try to rebound from a 7-19 overall record and a 4-10 league mark.
Dartmouth figures to improve as they return three starters including Gee and the Ivy League's leading rebounder, Ian McGinnis '01.
His freshman year, Gee averaged 5.8 points per game and 3.3 rebounds per game, before stepping into his own as an All-Ivy League first-team selection.
Gee scored his career-high in points this season when he poured in 29 points against conference rival Yale including five trifectas.
Like the unselfish player he is on the court, Gee had to be asked specifically about his own personal goals next year and then responded with an equally unselfish answer.
"I'm just going to keep working on becoming more of an all-around player, and getting myself mentally prepared to lead the team to its fullest potential by bringing out the best in my teammates," he said.
While his numbers speak for themselves, his teammates, both graduating and returning, laud Gee with high praise.
"He played so well, even after teams started focusing on stopping him ... I think that next year he will continue to step up and provide us with both a great example of how to work hard in practice and compete even harder on the court," McGinnis said.
Senior captain P. J. Halas talked about his relationship with Gee.
"He and I liked to call ourselves a two-headed monster, I was the brains, he was the brawn and the athlete," Halas said of the physically gifted Gee.
As for matching Bradley and the other Ivy League heroes of the past, he has two more seasons to complete his three on the league's first team and Halas said that the sky is the limit as far as a professional career.
"His future holds whatever he wants it to hold. With his work ethic and desire, as well as his god-given athletic abilities he can do whatever he wants," Halas said. "He has an NBA-type body, and once he hones his skills, he will be one of the leading candidates for Ivy player of the year as well as someone who could have professional basketball in their future."
