Repeats as NABC, D3hoops.com First Teamer
GREENSBORO, N.C. --- Guilford College senior
Ben Strong (Chapel Hill, N.C./Chapel Hill) won his second straight
D3hoops.com First Team All-America award over the weekend. The
teams were announced over the Internet prior to the webcast of
Saturday's NCAA Division III men's basketball title game.
Strong also earned a spot on the State Farm Division III First Team
All-America squad announced by the National Association of
Basketball Coaches (NABC) last week. He is Guilford's fourth
two-time men's basketball All-American and the Quakers' first
two-time, first-team honoree since World B. Free '76. ( Guilford's
Bob Kauffman '68 and David Smith '72 also received multiple men's
basketball All-America honors.) Strong also captured his
second consecutive D3hoops.com South Region Player of the Year and
NABC South District Player of the Year honors last week.
A 6-11, 220-pound center, Strong earned his second straight Old
Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Kurt Axe Memorial Men's
Basketball Player of the Year Award Feb. 28. Guilford's first
three-time First Team All-ODAC pick, he led the league in scoring
(25.8 ppg.), rebounds (10.8 rpg.) and blocked shots (2.21 bpg.).
The team co-captain ranks fourth in NCAA Division III in scoring,
14th in rebounds and 19th in blocks through games of March 16.
Strong was one of 10 finalists for the prestigious Jostens Trophy,
awarded annually by the Salem (Va.) Rotary Club to Division III
student-athletes who display outstanding achievement in basketball,
academics and community service. He won a school-record five ODAC
Men's Basketball Player of the Week awards this season and 13 of
the weekly honors in his career. His career-high 21 double-doubles
and 23 20-point games this year led the league. Strong scored a
season-high 39 points versus Eastern Mennonite University and Emory
& Henry College, two of his league-best nine 30-point games
this year. The Most Outstanding Player of the 2008 ODAC Tournament,
he averaged 25.9 points and 10.1 rebounds in 18 league
contests.
Strong broke his own Guilford Division III scoring record this year
with 747 points, passed the 2,000 career-points mark and holds
second place on the Quakers' all-time scoring list with 2,241
points in 112 games. He passed the likes of former NBA stars M.L.
Carr '73 and Free on his climb up the Quakers' scoring chart and
trails only former NBA player Kauffman's 2,570 points. Strong
stands seventh among Guilford's career rebounders (929) and second
in blocks (236). He also ranks among the Quakers' all-time leaders
in scoring average (20.0 ppg., 5th), field-goal percentage (.566,
7th), free throws (521, 3rd), free-throw attempts (609, 4th) and
games played (112, 5th). Strong holds ODAC career marks for free
throws, free-throw attempts and blocks.
Strong captured NABC NCAA Division III Co-Player of the Year honors
last season and won D3hoops.com's National Player of the Year prize
after averaging 25.4 points and 11.2 boards per game in Guilford's
24-5 campaign. Strong set NCAA Division III Tournament, ODAC and
school scoring records with 59 points in last year's
triple-overtime win over Lincoln (Pa.) University in a third-round
NCAA game.
Coach Tom Palombo's Quakers finished the season with a 24-5 overall
record, 16-2 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC).
Guilford won the ODAC regular-season and tournament titles for the
first time in school history and reached the NCAA Tournament for
the second consecutive season. The Quakers hosted first-and
second-round NCAA playoff games, but ended the year with a
first-round loss to St. Mary's College of Maryland, 89-77. The
Quakers return 11 letter winners from this year's team in
2008-09.
This release is courtesy of the Guilford College sports
information department.