Montagnino & Kinney Claim All-America Honors

March 23, 2026

BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott men's basketball team was represented by both Marcus Montagnino (Gloucester, Mass.) and Elijah Kinney (Nashville, Tenn.) on the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-America teams.

Montagnino was named a First Team NABC All-American, while Kinney earned a spot on the Second Team.

Montagnino was also announced as a member of the D3hoops.com All-America Fourth Team, which makes him the first consensus All-American in Endicott men's basketball program history.

MARCUS MONTAGNINO | NABC ALL-AMERICA FIRST TEAM | D3HOOPS.COM ALL-AMERICA FOURTH TEAM

Montagnino is now a 2x NABC All-American, and is the first D3hoops.com All-American in program history.

Last season, he became the first Gull ever to earn a spot on an NABC All-America team, and this year he becomes the program's first-ever NABC First Teamer.

Montagnino averaged 22.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 1.6 steals in 30 games played for the Gulls this season.

His shooting splits are impressively efficient all around, as he has shot 57.1% from the field, 36.0% from three-point territory, and 80.7% from the free throw line.

The graduate's 669 total points scored are most in program single-season history, surpassing the previous record of 653.

In the NCAA Tournament, he led the Gulls in minutes (115), scoring (68 total points; 22.7 per game), rebounding (29 total; 9.7 per game), and assists (18; 6.0 per game).

In the first round matchup against Neumann, he logged his second career triple-double, which was one of only two triple-doubles in the NCAA Tournament this season.

Throughout the season, he has carried the brunt of the offensive workload, especially when frontcourt mate Kinney was sidelined for a period of time in the middle of the season.

In CNE play, Montagnino led all scorers with 21.6 points per game, ranked second in assists per game (4.3), and third in rebounds per game (9.2).

Back in November, he became the second Gull ever (Keith Brown '20) to receive United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) National Player of the Week following a 26.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals per game statline.

His steady play throughout the season aided Endicott to its longest win streak ever (22 consecutive; active), and along the way, he personally kept the streak alive via some incredible late-game clutch performances.

The most iconic of such occurred at Roger Williams back on February 3, when the Gulls trailed by 10 with just under four minutes remaining. After going on a run, they closed the deficit to just one point with 44 seconds to play. Out of a timeout, Montagnino went to work on the baseline, stepped back, pulled up with a turnaround jumper from just below the left elbow, and drilled his midrange fadeaway to put the Gulls in front for the first time all game with 2.1 seconds remaining.

For his efforts throughout the season, he earned four CNE Player of the Week awards along the way (11/17/25, 1/5/26, 1/26/26, 2/16/26).

So far this postseason, he has been named CNE Player of the Year, 2025-26 D3hoops.com Region II Player of the Year, 2025-26 NABC District II Player of the Year, D3hoops.com All-Region II First Team, 2025-26 NABC All-District II First Team, and All-CNE First Team.

ELIJAH KINNEY | NABC ALL-AMERICA SECOND TEAM

Kinney is the second Gull ever to earn NABC All-America honors, and the first to be named as a member of the Second Team.

The Gulls' big man posted a career-best year in 2025-26.

He averaged career-highs across the board, and was a two-way centerpiece for Coach Bettencourt's squad.

Kinney posted averages of 20.7 points per game, 11.6 rebounds per game, 2.6 blocks per game, and 0.9 steals per game.

He amassed a total of 18 double-doubles over the course of the season, which ranks second nationally.

Meanwhile, his 11.6 rebounds per game rank sixth in Division III, and his 2.6 blocks rank 10th.

Back in December, he became the third Gull in program history to earn USBWA National Player of the Week honors, accompanying Montagnino as a recipient this season. The two are the first pair of teammates ever to earn the award in the same season.

The junior big man was also named the CNE Tournament's Most Outstanding Player following a terrific two-game stretch in which he notched 45 points (15-29, 51.7%), 29 rebounds, seven blocks, seven steals, and three assists in 65:28 minutes played.

Most memorably, he ignited Endicott's offense by scoring 10 of the team's first 16 points in the CNE Championship, electrifying the MacDonald Gymnasium crowd right out of the gate. He already had a double-double by halftime (18 points, 10 rebounds), and concluded the game with a team-high 23 points (8-14 FG), 12 rebounds, four blocks, two assists, and one steal.

Over the course of the season, he earned two D3hoops.com Team of the Week appearances (12/9/25; 12/16/25) and four CNE Player of the Week awards (11/24/25, 12/8/25, 12/15/25, 2/23/26).

Additionally, he earned CNE First Team, NABC All-District II First Team, and D3hoops.com All-Region II First Team honors for his outstanding play this season.

YEAR IN REVIEW

After finishing with a historic record of 28-2 (16-0 CNE) in 2025-26, the Gulls saw their season come to a close on Friday, March 13 after an 83-77 road loss to Illinois Wesleyan in the Sweet 16.

It was the second time in program history the Gulls have reached the Sweet 16, and the first since 2016-17.

The Gulls set program records for wins (28), winning streak (22) and best D3hoops.com national ranking (11) over the course of the season.

They were also the first program in conference history to pull off an undefeated in-conference slate and win the conference championship, showcasing their dominance from start to finish.

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(Photo Credit - Endicott Athletics)