EJ Day ’22 G’24 (pictured above) was named a finalist for the Jostens Trophy, a Division III award that honors student-athletes who excel in the classroom and on the court, and demonstrate a commitment to their community.

Day had an incredible final season with the Lasers during which he led the country in DIII scoring (25.8 points per game). His post-season honors so far include Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Player of the Year, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Third Team All-American, NABC District 1 All-Region First Team, GNAC First Team, and D3hoops.com First Team All-District 1. Day played in the NABC Division III All-Star game earlier this month in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

“Being named a finalist for the Jostens Trophy award is the true definition of a successful student athlete,” said Aaron Galletta, Lasell University men’s basketball head coach. “It speaks volumes to EJ’s academic success and commitment to giving back to the community.”

Not to mention, says Galletta, Day’s extraordinary career with the Lasers.

“He’s a special player. EJ can control the game on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor, and he would always come up clutch in the biggest moments. He stepped up this year into a leadership role and helped our younger players both on and off the court, showing them the kind of work ethic it takes to be successful at this level. To say he will be missed is probably the understatement of my coaching career.”

Day is set to complete his master’s degree in criminal justice next year. He hopes to play in the NBA summer leagues or overseas, and is grateful for what he learned during his time as a Laser.

“When you play as a team, you have to learn to adapt to others,” says Day. “As team captain, I worked hard to be the best leader I could and learned to work in different ways with all of my teammates.”

Day completed his Laser career with 1,610 career points (third in school history). His career 333 assists and 156 steals both rank second in program history. He is the only Laser to record multiple 40-point games, and holds the top two single-game assists totals (18 and 14 assists in back-to-back games this season).

He hopes he has inspired other Lasers to work as hard as he did, both on and off the court.

“I hope that my work ethic and passion for the game has rubbed off on others,” he says. “If you don’t compete every day in practice, you won’t play and you won’t win. And, to be able to go hard on the court, you have to work hard in the classroom. That is part of being a student-athlete.”

Photos courtesy Lasell Athletics.