Eastern Connecticut State University

Victor M. Pereira was a point guard on two post-season basketball teams and a starter in the final 92 games of his career. Standing 5-foot-6 inches tall, Pereira led the Warriors to their first two post-season tournament berths under E-Club Hall of Fame coach Dan Switchenko and graduated as the program’s all-time leader in assists (a record which still stands) and steals.  The Fall River, Mass. native appeared in all possible 104 games in his career, taking over a starting position in the team’s 12^th game of his freshman year. Pereira was the program’s first All-Little East Conference selection as a junior in the first year of LEC play, and repeated All-LEC recognition and gained distinction as a second-team Division III All-New England selection by the ECAC as a senior.  In his career, Pereira amassed a remarkable assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.4-to-1, totaling 589 helpers against only 241 turnovers, and ringing up at least 100 assists every season. Born in St. Michael’s Azores, Portugal, Pereira helped engineer seasons of 18 wins as a sophomore and 17 wins as a senior which produced ECAC New England Division III Tournament appearances each season. As a senior, Pereira averaged a career-high 7.9 points per game and had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3-to-1. In January of that year, he was named MVP when Eastern won the  Liberty Bank Classic at Geissler Gymnasium, scoring a career-high 20 points in the final against Trinity College and handing out seven assists in the opening victory over Connecticut College. As a sophomore, Pereira accumulated a program season-record 178 assists while shooting a career-best 51.9 percent from the floor.  Pereira was honored earlier in 2013 as the program’s second inductee into the New England Basketball Hall of Fame.