Porrini Named MAC's Top Defensive Player & Guyton Sixth Man of the Year
3/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Golden Flashes pick up more post season honors from the Mid-American Conference
KENT, Ohio – Becoming just the second Mid-American Conference team in 48 years to win back-to-back outright regular season championships did not go without a few standout individual performances for Kent State this season. Two more Golden Flashes were recognized on Tuesday for their performance this season when the conference office named junior guard Michael Porrini (Massillon, Ohio/Gulf Coast C.C. [Fla.]) the 2011 MAC Defensive Player of the Year and junior guard Carlton Guyton (Chicago, Ill. / Mineral Area C.C. [Mo.]) the 2011 MAC 'Sixth-Man' of the Year. Â
Standing a mere 6'2", Porrini developed into one of the most versatile defenders in the conference this season. With him guarding any one of four positions on the floor from point guard to power forward, he helped cornerstone a Kent State defense that led the league in field goal percentage defense (.416) and three-point field goal percentage defense (.317). Porrini also was second on the team with 4.3 rebounds per game, including 3.0 on the defensive end, for a team that was second in the league in rebounding with 37.0 per game. He had 12 games this season with three or more steals and ranked fifth in the MAC with 1.7 steals per game this season. Â
"Mike is one of the toughest kids that I have worked with in my 14 years in the coaching profession," said Kent State Head Coach Geno Ford. "He is a fierce competitor that brings a workman-like mentality to every game. His ability to defend opposing players ranging from point guards to post players has been a vital part of our team's accomplishments this year." Â
Porrini is the fourth different Kent State player to receive the honor joining Haminn Quaintance (2008), John Edwards (2004) and Demetric Shaw (2001 & 2002). Â
Guyton was tabbed the league's top reserve following a conference season in which he came off the bench in 13 of his 14 games and averaged 12.4 points per contest during league play. One of the top marksmen from three, he shot 40.5 percent (49-121) from beyond the arc on the season ranking him eighth in the MAC. Guyton picked up his game down the stretch as the Golden Flashes secured the No. 1 seed in the MAC Tournament and a second straight regular season title. In the last seven games of the regular season the 6'4" junior guard averaged a team best 15.4 ppg and shot over 50 percent from the field and 48.1 percent (13-27) from three. Â
"Carlton has been a key contributor to our success this season," said Ford. "He has thrived in his role off the bench and has given our team an immediate lift upon entering games during MAC play."
This is the second straight year Kent State has had a player named 'Sixth-Man' of the Year. Guyton is the third player in school history to be recognized with the honor joining Anthony Simpson (2010) and Kevin Warzynski (2006). Since the award was first handed out in 2003, the Golden Flashes have had a player receive the award in three of the nine years. Â
Grouped with Head Coach Geno Ford's MAC Coach of the Year honor and junior forward Justin Greene's (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Lincoln) MAC Player of the Year Award, Kent State becomes the first school in MAC history to have four different people win all four awards. Only Buffalo's Javon McCrea, who was named MAC Freshman of the Year today, prevented a clean sweep by the Golden Flashes of all five major awards handed out by the league office. Â
The top seed in the MAC Tournament, the Golden Flashes return to action in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 10 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Kent State is scheduled to face the winner of Tuesday's 8/9 game between Central Michigan and Buffalo. Â
