WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Former William & Mary men's basketball standout Terry Tarpey '16 and his Le Mans team claimed the French National Basketball League Championship over the weekend. Le Mans won its fifth title and first since 2008, downing regular season winner Monaco, 76-74, in the fifth and final game of the championship series.
Tarpey started 18 of his 26 appearances for Le Mans in 2017-18, but missed the final six games of the regular season and the entire playoffs due to an injury. He averaged 6.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, two assists and 1.3 steals per game in 23.6 minutes of action. Tarpey ranked 14th in France's top league in steals and 28th in rebounds. He shot 39.3 percent (22-of-56) from 3-point range and 74.2 percent from the free throw line. Tarpey enjoyed his top scoring game of the season in a 93-62 win over Antibes on March 9, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Le Mans ended the regular season in third place at 21-13. After downing ASVEL, 2-1, in the quarterfinals, Le Mans topped No. 2 Strasbourg, 3-2, in the semifinals, before taking out Monaco, 3-2, in the championship series.
Tarpey, who played his first professional season in 2017 with ASC Denain Voltaire in the second league in France, started all three games of the French Leaders Cup for Le Mans in February. He averaged nine points and six rebounds over the event in helping his team to the finals. Monaco downed Le Mans, 83-78, in the championship game.
During his Tribe career, Tarpey helped lead the Green and Gold to three-straight 20-win seasons, starting 93 of 94 games over his final three years. He became the fifth player in Colonial Athletic Association history to be named the league defensive player of the year on two occasions, taking home the award in 2015 and 2016. Tarpey was a two-time Second-Team All-CAA and NABC All-District 10 selection. He became the first player in W&M history to record a triple double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against James Madison in 2015. Tarpey capped his career ranked third in W&M history in career steals (171) and blocked shots (119), while ranking fifth in career rebounds (807) and games played (124).
The Stamford, Conn, native averaged double figures in his final two campaigns with the Tribe, scoring 946 career points. He scored at an 11.8 points-per-game clip as a junior, before finishing at 10.4 per contest in 2016. Tarpey led the CAA in steals each of the last two seasons and finished among the league's top rebounders both years as well at 8.4 per game in 2015 and 7.8 in 2016.
Tarpey is one of five former Tribe players who played professionally in 2017-18.
Daniel Dixon '17 (Maine Red Claws in the NBA G League),
Omar Prewitt '17 (Greece), Marcus Thornton '15 (Canton Charge in the NBA G League) and Laimis Kisielius (Lithuania) spent last season in the professional ranks. He is one of 16 former players under head coach
Tony Shaver who have gone on to sign professional contracts. A total of 11 consecutive graduating Tribe class saw at least one player sign a professional contract, a number that will increase with the Class of 2018.
