PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The City of Basketball Love website announced their All-Area Awards for Division III on Thursday morning, and both the Neumann University Men's and Women's programs were well-represented.
 
Donte Dupriest was named the Men's Basketball Player of the Year, and coach Jim Rullo was named the Coach of the Year. DJ Earl was named to the All-Area First team while Bryan Etienne and Jayson Love were honorably mentioned. On the women's side, Emily DuPont was named to the All-Area First Team and Jess Aponik was honorably mentioned.
 
Dupriest is honored by City of Basketball Love for the second time in her career after last year's All-Area First team nod. He is the two-time and current Atlantic East Conference Player of the Year after being named the Player of the Week twice, Defensive Player of the Week four times, and placed on the weekly Honor Roll four times. He also made the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Region 5 First team, and the D3hoops.com Region 5 First team.
 
Earl is also a two-time honoree by the City of Basketball Love, last year appearing on the All-Area Second team. His is a two-time all-Atlantic East selection, being placed on the First team this season. He was named the conference's Player of the Week twice, and earned weekly Honor Roll recognition three times.
 
Etienne is the 2025-2026 Atlantic East Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player. He was named the conference Player of the Week on February 23^rd, and is a two-time weekly Honor Roll recipient.
 
Love played in 15 games for the Knights this season with 10 starts. Averaging over 34 minutes per game, he put up 14.7 points per game. In total, he had 221 points with 72 rebounds, 25 assists, six blocks, and 14 steals.
 
Coach Rullo led Neumann to it's second consecutive Atlantic East Conference Tournament title, roaring to the championship from the fourth seed, the lowest seed to ever win the Atlantic East crown. The Knights defeated Marywood in the first round, then went on the road to upend Marymount in the semis, and Gwynedd Mercy in the final. Overall, Coach Rullo put up his third Atlantic East championship and fifth conference title.
 
DuPont, Neumann's newest member of the 1,000 point club, earned her third All-Conference selection, and second straight First Team nod. She was named the Defensive Player of the Week twice, and made the weekly Honor Roll six times. This is also her second consecutive City of Basketball Love All-Area First team honor.
 
Aponik was named to the Atlantic Eats Conference Second team in 2025-2026. She was named to the weekly Honor Roll on February 16^th. She was Neumann's second leading scorer with 10.7 points per game. She was also second in rebounds with 136, and second in blocks with 37.