MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Wesleyan men's basketball team was well represented on the NESCAC end-of-season awards announcement as Sam Pohlman '26 and Zach Wolinski '28 both earned spots on the All-NESCAC First Team while head coach Joe Reilly and assistants Noah Tyson and Nicky Johnson '25 are the NESCAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
Both Pohlman and Wolinski are All-NESCAC honorees for the first time in their career. Reilly and his staff earn the Coaching Staff of the Year honors for the second straight season. This is Reilly's fourth career NESCAC Coaching honor, three of which have come in the past five seasons.
 
Joe Reilly, Noah Tyson, and Nicky Johnson | Coaching Staff of the Year
It's a second straight NESCAC Coaching Staff of the Year honor for the Wesleyan staff as head coach Joe Reilly, currently in his 18^th season with the Cardinals, is supported by second-year assistant Noah Tyson and first-year assistant Nicky Johnson '25. Reilly, the 2025 Glenn Robinson National Coach of the Year, followed a memorable Final Four run last season with another successful campaign in 2025-26.
 
After going 30-2 last season, making it to the Sweet 16, Elite 8, and Final Four rounds of the NCAA Tournament – all for the first time in program history – the Cardinals are 21-6, earned the #1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament for the second straight season and third time in the past five years, knocked off the defending National Champions Trinity in the regular season, and are 13-1 at home this season.
 
The Cardinals have been ranked inside the Top 25 nationally for most of the season and have achieved an 11^th straight winning season. This is the Cardinals' fifth 20+ win season inprogram history while the Cardinals are hosting NCAA Tournament First and Second Round action for the second straight year and fourth time in the past seven seasons.
 
Sam Pohlman '26 | All-NESCAC First Team
The play-making point guard has blossomed in his first season as a regular season for the Cardinals, dishing out a NESCAC-leading 6.4 assists per game while scoring 12.4 points per game to go along with 5.6 rebounds per game. Pohlman is shooting 44.1 percent from the floor and 73.9 percent from the free throw line.
 
Pohlman's passing has been a big key to the Cardinal offense all season, as he has 174 assists against just 70 turnovers for a NESCAC-leading 2.5 assist/turnover ratio. He ranks sixth nationally in assists per game while he has at least six assists in each of the last seven games including 10+ assists three times. Pohlman dished out 15 assists in a regular season win over Bates on February 8, which is the most assists in a single-game by a Cardinal in at least the last 30 seasons.
 
Zach Wolinski '28 | All-NESCAC First Team
 
Wolinski's game and role have evolve immensely from last season as the sophomore shooting guard has led the team in scoring all throughout this season, ranking third in the NESCAC at 18.2 points per game. He has 10+ points in 26-of-27 games this season while he ranks 11^th overall (3^rd among guards) in the NESCAC in field goal percentage (46.4) and 2^nd-best in free throw percentage (85.7).
 
Wolinski has gone from averaging 4.1 points per game in his freshman season to 18.2 PPG as a sophomore, he's increased his scoring by +14.1 PPG between seasons. He put up 32 and 33 points in back-to-back games recently against Bowdoin and Colby to finish the regular season while he has at least 22 points in four of the past seven games for Wesleyan.
 
The Cardinals (21-6) open the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 6:15 PM as Wesleyan plays host to Lehman.