NAC Announces 2025 Man of the Year Finalists
WATERVILLE, Maine – A total of six recent graduates from North Atlantic Conference (NAC) institutions have been nominated for the conference's 2025 Man of the Year Award.
In alphabetical order, the nominees are Parker Desjardins from Thomas College, Gregory Gonyea, Jr. from Vermont State University Lyndon, William Harriman from University of Maine at Farmington, David Hileman from Husson University, Logan Migliori from University of Maine at Presque Isle, and Samuel Nichol from Maine Maritime Academy.
The NAC Man of the Year award is modeled after the NCAA Woman of the Year program which honors graduating student athletes who distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate careers in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service, and leadership. The NAC also selects a Woman of the Year using the same model, nominees for which were released on June 24, 2025. These are the two preeminent awards presented annually by the conference.
Member schools nominate student athletes from their own institution, then NAC Athletic Directors and Senior Woman Administrators vote to select the Man of the Year. Scoring for the academic achievement section is based on the undergraduate cumulative grade-point average of the nominee. Scoring for athletic excellence is based on the nominee's honors and accomplishments including awards and championships, and scoring for service and leadership is based on their involvement in campus and community activities and organizations over the course of their collegiate career. Administrators also consider a short personal statement written by each nominee.
The NAC Man of the Year will be announced in early July and will be honored on campus during the upcoming academic year. More information on each of the 2025 NAC Man of the Year nominees is below:
Parker Desjardins
Institution: Thomas College
Major: Finance (3.99)
Sport: Men’s Basketball
Position: Shooting Guard
Hometown / High School: Jackman, Maine / Forest Hills Consolidated School
A four-year member of the Thomas College men’s basketball team, Parker Desjardins helped lead the program as a team captain during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 seasons and was tabbed Thomas College Senior Outstanding Athlete this past spring. During the 2024-2025 basketball season, Desjardins joined the Terriers’ men’s basketball 1,000 Point club on January 18, 2025, in a conference game victory. He led Thomas this past season with 362 points and finished his collegiate career with 1,123 points.
A finance major with a 3.99 GPA, Desjardins graduated this past spring Summa Cum Laude. Desjardins has earned consistent recognition for his academics, landing on the Presidents List all four years during his time at Thomas College. In addition, he was inducted into the Alpha Chi National Honor Society (2023-2025).
Desjardins has spent time volunteering at the Greater Waterville Area Food Bank, the Elks Lodge Christmas Fundraiser, and led a group project as part of the College Fed Challenge. He has also volunteered the past three years during the Thomas College Basketball camps.
Gregory Gonyea, Jr.
Institution: Vermont State University Lyndon
Major: Business Administration – Management (3.94)
Minor: Marketing
Sports: Men’s Basketball / Men’s Cross Country
Position: Guard
Hometown / High School: Dolgeville, New York / Dolgeville High School
Hornets’ men’s basketball captain Gregory Gonyea, Jr. has made his mark both on the court and in the classroom during his time at Vermont State University Lyndon, earning his business administration degree in three years with a 3.94 GPA. In his final season, the three-year member and two-year captain was named NAC Senior Scholar Athlete for men’s basketball, earned NAC All-Conference First Team honors, led the conference in overall scoring, received regional honors after landing on D3Hoops.com Region 1 Third Team, and was even recognized for his efforts during weekly honors at the conference and national level. Gonyea’s athletic efforts recently led to him receiving the Dudley Bell Outstanding Male Athlete at VTSU Lyndon. He is a two-time Michael Tessier Award winner at Lyndon (2023-24, 2024-25) and was named NAC Rookie of the Year and Lyndon men’s basketball Most Outstanding Teammate during his rookie season (2022-23). Gonyea also ran on the Lyndon men’s cross-country team in 2023.
In the classroom, Gonyea has been named to the Lyndon President’s List five times and Dean’s List once, while also being honored as the Outstanding Senior Business Student at Lyndon. He is a three-time NAC All-Academic Team honoree and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree. In addition, he has received recognition as a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors Court.
Gonyea has served as the Vice Present of Lyndon’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee from 2023-2025 and was selected to attend the NCAA Student-Athlete Leadership Forum in 2023. He has worked as a member of the Lyndon Athletics Department Game Crew and has been responsible as a recruiting host for potential student-athletes. His community service involvement includes being an organizer for Trunk or Treat, wood stacking for community members, and volunteering at the Caledonia Country Fair. In addition, he has served as a coach at the Lyndon summer basketball camps, middle school basketball clinics, and at the AAU basketball level. Gonyea was recognized with the Skip Pound Service to Athletics Award in 2024 and 2025.
Gonyea tallied a career total of 1,101 points in only three seasons at Lyndon and was received the VTSU Lyndon Alumni Council Outstanding Graduating Senior Award.
William Harriman
Institution: UMaine of Maine at Farmington
Major: Pre-Medicine Biology (3.84)
Minor: Mathematics
Graduate Degree: Master of Science in Biology (University of New England - Starting August 2025)
Sports: Men’s Basketball / Baseball
Position: Forward / Pitcher
Hometown / High School: Biddeford, Maine / Biddeford High School
A two-sport student-athlete, William Harriman played as a forward in men’s basketball for the Beavers and was a pitcher in baseball during his four years at UMaine-Farmington. Harriman helped lead the Farmington men’s basketball team to a NAC East Division Championship in 2022-23 and was named to the NAC men’s basketball Sportsmanship Team the following season (2023-24). As a pitcher for the baseball team, he earned prestigious honors as the 2025 NAC Senior Scholar Athlete.
Academically, Harriman graduated Magna Cum Laude with a 3.84 GPA in Pre-Medicine Biology and minor in mathematics and made the Farmington Dean’s List each year. He is a four-time NAC All-Academic Team honoree in both men’s basketball and baseball and was selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team for baseball (2023-2024) and basketball (2025). In 2023, Harriman received the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE)Undergraduate Research Fellowship where he logged 300 hours in the summer and carried out a 10-week research project on pain sensitivity in drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) larvae using genetic tools. He later presented his findings at MDI biological Laboratory Symposium Day. He continued his research efforts in 2024 through an acquired research assistantship where he published authorship through the General and Comparative Endocrinology Journal. Due to his academic accomplishments, this past spring Harriman was awarded the University of Maine at Farmington Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year honors.
A passionate leader at Farmington, Harriman held multiple leadership roles including being a Morgan’s Message representative (promoting mental health awareness in athletics), biology tutor, and special projects assistant in the athletics department. His leadership extended into service, with long-term involvement in the Biddeford Challenger Baseball League where he coached youths with special needs and disabilities. He also held one-time roles in various basketball clinics and community events.
David Hileman
Institution: Husson University
Major: Audio Engineering – Live Sound Production (3.91)
Sports: Men’s Cross Country / Men’s Indoor Track & Field / Men’s Outdoor Track & Field
Events: Distance
Hometown / High School: Bucksport, Maine / Bucksport High School
David Hileman, a three-sport student-athlete at Husson University, competed for four years in cross country and indoor and outdoor track & field. In 2025, he qualified for the New England Championships in both distance medley relay (indoor) and 10,000-meter (outdoor). In cross-country, Hileman is a two-time NAC All-Conference First Team honoree (2023, 2024).
Balancing three varsity sports, Hileman managed to earn a spot on the Husson President’s List all four years and Dean’s List while majoring in audio engineering with a 3.91 GPA. In 2025, he earned NAC Senior Scholar Athlete for outdoor track and field and has been named to the NAC All-Academic Team from 2022-2025 for both cross country and outdoor track & field. His academic accomplishments led to his induction into the Chi Alpha Sigma Honor Society at Husson.
Outside athletics, Hileman has been actively involved at Husson, working in the Eagle’s athletic office, the New England School of Communications Mobile Production, and as a box office assistant. Hileman leadership led him to be the Student Audio Event Leader for the inauguration of Husson University President Lynn Coy-Ogan in 2024. He has served in a volunteer role with the Dedham middle school track team, St. Joes Commit to Get Fit Road Race, Bangor Human Society, Tybee Island YMCA, and the community garden in Eugene, Oregon.
Logan Migliori
Institution: University of Maine at Presque Isle
Major: Exercise Science (3.99)
Sport: Men’s Basketball
Position: Shooting Guard
Hometown / High School: Boynton Beach, Florida / Lake Worth Christian School
University of Maine at Presque Isle student-athlete Logan Migliori graduates with a near-perfect GPA in exercise science (3.99) and served as a captain of the Owl’s men’s basketball team for the 2024-25 season. Migliori began his collegiate career at Norwich University where he was a shooting guard for their men’s basketball team for two years (2021-2023) before transferring to UMaine-Presque Isle (2023-2025). During his 2024-25 season at UMaine-Presque Isle, he was named to the NAC men’s basketball Sportsmanship Team.
Migliori has consistently made the Dean’s List, Norwich (2022) and UMaine-Presque Isle (2023-2025), and is a recipient of the Pat Baker Athletic Training Award and Rual Parks Memorial Scholarship, awarded to top-performing exercise science students. During his time at Presque Isle, he has earned both NAC All-Academic Team and NABC Honors Court.
Migliori exhibits leadership qualities on and off campus, serving in many leadership and volunteer roles. He has worked as a recreation specialist for the Police Athletic League (PAL) since 2022, coaching and mentoring children from difficult backgrounds. He also contributed to the All About Kids Learning Center and coached preschoolers at the Sargent Family Community Center. Migliori has served as the men’s basketball Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative and BSU Treasurer for the past two years. Additionally, his involvement with UMPI Athletic Training, campus game management, and multiple youth basketball clinics showcases a hands-on commitment to both his academic field and his community.
Samuel Nichol
Institution: Maine Maritime Academy
Major: Marine Systems Engineering (3.83)
Minor: Mathematics and Naval Architecture
Sport: Men’s Lacrosse
Position: Midfield
Hometown / High School: Concord, New Hampshire / Concord High School
As a Marine Systems Engineering major with a dual minor in Mathematics and Naval Architecture, Samuel Nichol has maintained an impressive 3.83 GPA while taking on extensive leadership and service roles at Maine Maritime Academy. A four-year men’s lacrosse midfielder and two-year captain for the Mariners, Nichol has been named to the Dean’s List every semester, earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors three times and USILA Team Academic Award (2024), and was recognized as the NAC Men’s Lacrosse Senior Scholar Athlete and Mariners Athletics Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2025.
Nichol has dedicated hundreds of hours to tutoring fellow students in math and physics, in addition to working as a teaching assistant for multiple courses. His service also includes participation on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and volunteering for the Special Olympics Bocce Tournaments at Maine Maritime and campus-wide cleanups.
He has been a powerhouse for the Maine Maritime men’s lacrosse team, serving as team captain from 2023 to 2025 and earning numerous accolades, including NAC First Team All-Conference (2023–2025) and Second Team (2022), NAC All-Tournament Team (2022, 2025), Mariners MVP (2025) and Offensive Player of the Year (2024), and Mariners Men’s Leader of the Year (2023–2024, 2024–2025). He leaves Maine Maritime a three-time NAC champion, helping lead the Mariners to titles in 2022, 2023, and 2025. Nichol recently represented Maine Maritime as he was selected for the USILA and NEILA Senior All-Star Games.
He leaves an indelible mark in the Mariner’s program record books, ranking second all-time in points (238), third in goals (163), fifth in assists (75), second in man-up goals (29), and first in career games played (66).