SUNY Niagara added seven more of its student-athletes to its all-time list of NJCAA All-Americans. Since 1966, SUNY Niagara — previously known as Niagara County Community College — has had 134 total All-Americans.
Men’s basketball star Alan Schug was the school’s first recipient in 1966, and women’s bowler Laurie Marvin became the first female honoree in 1980. 2026 also marked the fifth consecutive year and 10th time overall that SUNY Niagara had at least five honorees in one year.
Wrestling has the most NJCAA All-Americans in SUNY Niagara history with 51 and has six of the school’s 15 two-time recipients. Baseball is second with 26 total honorees.
Derrick Allen, baseball
The third-team All-American started 11 of his 12 appearances and finished in the NJCAA Division III top five with nine wins (tied for second), 84 strikeouts (fifth) and 67.2 innings pitched (eighth). Allen threw a season-best 7.1 innings versus Rowan College South Jersey-Gloucester in the second round of the NJCAA Division III World Series on May 24 — one of his two postseason wins — and struck out a season-high 12 versus Northern Essex Community College on March 14.
In 35 games at the plate, Allen recorded a .386 batting average, drove in 15 runs and scored an additional 20. Allen’s first home run with the Thunderwolves came in their 11-8 win at Finger Lakes Community College March 29. This was also one of two games where the Rochester resident drove in a season-high three runs (County College of Morris on March 17).
Keegan Bazinet, baseball
Also this season’s NJCAA Division III Pitcher of the Year, Bazinet became SUNY Niagara’s sixth first-team All-American pitcher over the last decade. This list includes Matt Matre (2016), Christian Young (2017), Ryan Peterson (2021), Ryan Birchard (2023) and Matt Barr (2025).
The George Mason commit and Windsor, Ont. resident went 13-0 in 13 starts in his sophomore season, the most wins in NJCAA Division III. Bazinet finished second and third in the division, respectively, with his team-high 78 innings pitched and 89 strikeouts, retired a career-high 13 versus Northern Essex Community College on March 14 and posted two of his four postseason wins during the World Series.
Aidan Gillings, wrestling
After earning 236 wins, three Section VI titles and five trips to states while at Newfane High School, Gillings became SUNY Niagara’s 51st All-American in wrestling. His victory in the 149-pound fifth-place match clinched SUNY Niagara’s first national championship in its 53-year history.
Gillings finished his freshman campaign with a 26-4 record and posted a team-high 19 pins. Gillings went unbeaten for SUNY Niagara at the Defend the Lake Open Nov. 8 at Garrett College in Maryland, the NJCAA Div. III National Duals Jan. 10 in Sanborn, the Whizzer Open Feb. 1 at Henry Ford College in Michigan and the NJCAA Region III/District X championships Feb. 21 at Jamestown Community College.
Finn Graham, golf
The Clarence resident became SUNY Niagara’s ninth golfer turned All-American since 2017 after he placed tied for 10th with a four-day score of 12-over par 300 at the NJCAA Division III national championships June 5 in Canandaigua. The score is SUNY Niagara’s second all-time lowest finish at nationals behind Sean Barrett’s 294 in 2023.
Graham medaled at five different events in his sophomore season and his score of 68 at the Hudson Valley and Jefferson Invitationals broke SUNY Niagara’s record for lowest individual tournament scores. Graham also posted the Thunderwolves’ new lowest score at the NJCAA Region III championships (148), making him their sixth all-time champion since 1979 and the fourth since 2021.
Azriel Hall, basketball
The Lockport resident was named a NJCAA Division II third-team All-American and the ninth selection in program history. Hall scored a team-high 19.7 points per contest (tied for 16th in NJCAA Division III), shot 54.1% from the field and helped the Thunderwolves advance to their eighth consecutive Region III Div. II championship game.
Hall recorded a season-high 40 points in SUNY Niagara’s 100-59 versus Lakeland Community College on Feb. 1, becoming the first Thunderwolf to reach the mark since Michelle Milleville versus Niagara College (Ont.) on Dec. 15, 1997. Hall scored 492 points over 25 games this season, the second-highest mark for a first-year SUNY Niagara player since Paige Emborsky had 530 in 2018-19.
Dalton Harper, baseball
Also the program’s first-ever NJCAA Division III Baseball Player of the Year recipient, Harper became SUNY Niagara’s third position player turned All-American this decade, joining Vincent Chiarenza (2018) and Andrew Stillinger (2024). Harper helped the Thunderwolves win their first NJCAA Division III World Series championship in their 59-year history with a 55-6 record.
The Cheektowaga resident finished in the top-10 in the division after he tied for first in hits (105), second in batting average (.556), fourth in runs batted in (91), tied for fourth in home runs (17), and eighth in runs scored (85) in 59 games played. A Penn State commit, Harper rewrote SUNY Niagara’s modern era record books and finished as its leader in RBI (129), hits (172), doubles (39) and triples (11) in 108 career games.
Chioke Marshall, basketball
The Queens resident received NJCAA Division II All-American honors and became the eighth recipient since the Bill Beilein coaching era started in 2009-10 (11th total). The guard finished fourth in NJCAA Division II with a team-high 24.7 points per game and shot a division-best 92.9% at the free-throw line.
Marshall scored a career-high 50 points in SUNY Niagara’s 110-109 overtime win at Jamestown Community College on Jan. 28, which is believed to be the program’s new single-game record. In 57 games, Marshall finished second in SUNY Niagara scoring with 1,200 career points, trailing only 1975 graduate and Athletics Wall of Fame inductee George Pendleton (1,245).
Since 1966, SUNY Niagara has had 15 total two-time NJCAA All-American selections:
Jim Reese, Men’s Bowling: 1981, 1982; Bob Meidenbauer, Men’s Bowling: 1981, 1982;
Sean Perry, Men’s Bowling: 1982, 1983; Rashad Evans, Wrestling: 1999, 2000;
Dale DeBacco, Wrestling: 2007, 2008; Shay Shive, Wrestling: 2009, 2010;
Kris Schmiek, Wrestling: 2012, 2013; Troy Keller, Wrestling: 2017, 2018;
Vincent Chiarenza, Baseball: 2018, 2019; Frankie Gissendanner, Wrestling: 2020, 2022;
Alaina Forbes, Women’s Basketball: 2021, 2022; Leo Camilloni, Men’s Golf: 2022, 2023;
Sean Barrett, Men’s Golf: 2022, 2023; McCarthy Lang, Women’s Golf: 2022, 2023;
Dalton Harper, Baseball: 2025, 2026.