BOSTON, MA -- Siena's Elijah Burns is the recipient of the 2020 Riley Wallace Award, given annually to the top transfer in Division I college basketball.
The graduate transfer from Notre Dame was a key part of Siena’s late-season surge and MAAC regular-season championship. Burns led the MAAC in field goal percentage shooting 63% from the field. He finished third in free throw percentage (86%), seventh in scoring (14.6) and eighth in the conference in rebounding (5.9). The senior co-captain helped the Saints finish the season with 10 straight wins.
During his coaching career at Hawaii, Wallace welcomed many transfers into the program and became the winningest coach in Hawaii history. Wallace guided Hawaii to nine postseason appearances, including a school-record streak of four straight from 2001-04.
The Warriors appeared in the NCAA Tournament three times under Wallace and have been invited to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) on six occasions. Prior to his arrival, the program had just one NCAA appearance and two trips to the NIT.