READING, Mass. – Lebanon Valley men's basketball head coach Brad McAlester was recently selected as the winner of the 2016-17 Collegiate Basketball Officials Association (CBOA) Schoenfeld Sportsmanship Award for the Harrisburg area.
 
This is the highest honor that the CBOA annually bestows on any collegiate institution. The organization cites schools in a number of geographical areas, annually, including Baltimore-Washington, Harrisburg, Lehigh-Scranton, Philadelphia, Eastern New England, Western New England, Metro New Jersey, Metro New York, Western Upstate New York, Pittsburgh, and Eastern New York.
 
Sam Schoenfeld was one of the CBOA's founding fathers. He graduated from Columbia University in 1931 after helping lead the Ivy League school to a conference championship in 1930. He earned Ivy League First-Team All-Conference honors that season for his efforts. Following his playing career, he earned the reputation as one of the best officials in college basketball before moving on to referee in the NBA for six years.
 
A brief illness took his life in early 1956 and as a result, the CBOA moved to memorialize Schoenfeld with the creation of an award that would be presented annually to a person who exemplified the principles and characteristics so prominently displayed by Schoenfeld. Accordingly, the award is presented to the college or university, which in the judgment of the CBOA membership, best exemplifies "the highest degree of sportsmanship, character, and ethics among their players, coaches, and spectators."
 
This is the third time that McAlester and his LVC coaches and players have been recognized by the CBOA for their sportsmanship. The program also won the Harrisburg area Schoenfeld Award in 1996-97 and 2003-04.