Photo by Dean Reid, d3photography.com

Forward - Joey Flannery
Babson College
2013 - 2017

All-American selections: 2015 (1st), 2016 (1st), 2017 (Player of the Year)

All-Region selections: 2014 (1st and Rookie of the Year), 2015 (Player of the Year), 2016 (Player of the Year), 2017 (Player of the Year)

Conference MVPs: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017

NCAA Tournament appearances: 2014 (1st round), 2015 (Final Four), 2016 (2nd round), 2017 (national champion)

Other honors: 2015 All-Tournament team...2016 NABC Player of the Year...2017 NABC Player of the Year...2017 Tournament Most Outstanding Player

From the archives

• Babson finishes title run (March 2017)
• Flannery's block party cause for celebration (March 2017)
• Flannery pushes Babson to excellence (Nov. 2016)
• Beavers top Bantams in OT to reach Final Four (March 2015)

What others say: "Joey was a transformational player based on his unparalleled work ethic and compete level. Joey is the first and only 4 time NEWMAC Player of the Year and it was evident as a first-year player that his work ethic was special. He scored 60-plus points during the weekend of the Big 4 Challenge and, on the following off day, he was in the gym working for three hours on his game. There were numerous games on the biggest of stages we were down and his confidence and compete level were huge factors in our team's ability to overcome the deficit and win, including a 25-point first half deficit in the national semifinal which Babson won to advance and capture the national championship the next day." – Stephen Brennan, Babson head coach

In their own words: "I wouldn't trade my college career for anything. It is really special being able to look back on my time at Babson and see all that we accomplished as such a tight-knit group under Coach Brennan's leadership. Over the course of our four years at Babson, we really built a great culture which culminated in a national championship. Some of my greatest friends are my teammates from Babson and I still talk with Coach Brennan all the time. It is truly a unique and special bond we've maintained as part of the Babson basketball family."

Where are they now: After a season playing professionally in Spain and two years as a grad assistant, Flannery is now the assistant director of men's basketball operations at Division I Villanova under Jay Wright.

Career synopsis: Joey Flannery was not particularly big. He was a good shooter, but not a standout. He didn't appear to be particularly quick, but he was fast enough to run the length of the floor in the waning seconds of the 2017 national championship game and block (the very quick) Nolan Ebel's game winning layup. Flannery always, always came through when it mattered. That's his legacy. He was denied National Rookie of Year by a guy named Duncan Robinson, but he led his Babson Beavers to the Final Four as a sophomore. There's little doubt he would've been back as a junior, if not for a late-season leg injury he nevertheless played through. As a senior, he led a 25-point comeback in the national semifinal against a Whitman buzzsaw that just didn't allow for that kind of thing. Then there was his blocked shot to preserve his team's win the next night – a title that seemed both impossible and inevitable, because Flannery was on the floor.

His legacy includes the transformation of a program mired, at best, in the middle of the NEWMAC standings. In the seven years prior to his arrival on campus, Babson won no fewer than 10 and no more than 16 games and only once finished better than .500 in conference play. A quick look at Babson's year-by-year record makes obvious Flannery's four seasons, which also mark the emergence of Babson as a conference contender, recruiting destination, and nationally recognized program. When coaches talk about finding a player whose talent, drive, and determination changes everything for their program, they're talking about finding the next Flannery.