Richard E. Vega was a two-time selection to the prestigious ECAC All-New England team and a three-time, first-team All-Little East Conference combination guard, accumulating a program-record career 1,593 points. The lithe, six-foot, 155-pound Hartford native is the only two-time All-ECAC and one of only two three-time, first-team All-LEC selections in program history. He concluded his career ranked first all-time in scoring, steals and free throws made, second in three-point field goals and third in assists. Vega started the final 97 games in which he appeared, missing only two of a possible 105 games. Vega scored 923 points (18.5 ppg) in his final two seasons, with nearly one-third of them coming from the foul line. In his career, Vega averaged 15.5 points, 3.7 assists and rebounds and 2.2 steals in an average of 33.3 minutes. Late in the 2000/01 season, Vega became the first Eastern junior in 30 years to reach 1,000 points during a 37-point effort against host UMass Boston, and in the 19th game of his senior year, became the program’s all-time leading scorer during a 32-point road showing against Endicott College. In three seasons, Vega led the Warriors in scoring, assists, steals, three-pointers, minutes and free throws. As only a sophomore, Vega led the Warriors to their only Little East tournament championship (and an NCAA berth) in a 19-year period, sinking a game-winning buzzer-beater in a first-round, one-point victory and going on to tournament MVP honors. Vega concluded his career by participating in the NEIBA New England Senior All-Star Game, and in 2013, was inducted into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.
