Woods-Morrow Top Rookie, Heller Scholar-Athlete

SALEM, Va. --- Randolph-Macon College senior Justin Short took home the ODAC Player of the Year award, announced on Thursday as part of the league's conference tournament festivities. Guilford head coach Tom Palombo was tabbed as the Bob Johnson ODAC Coach of the Year. Randolph College forward Derrick Woods-Morrow received ODAC Freshman of the Year honors, and Washington and Lee University senior Ben Heller was selected as the 2009 ODAC/Farm Bureau Scholar-Athlete.

Short adds this season's POY honor to a back-to-back All-ODAC First Team nods. He currently ranks second in the conference in scoring at 19.2 per outing. He leads in three points field goal percentage (36.6%), minutes played (33), assists (80), steals (33) and assist-to-turnover ratio. Short scored in double figures in each of 25 games this season, leading the team in scoring 21 times. He has scored 30-plus points twice including a 31-point effort against Emory & Henry, his season. For his career, Short has scored better than 1,200 points.

Palombo top coaching honor also marks the first bestowed under its new namesake as the Bob Johnson ODAC Coach of the Year award, named after the former Emory & Henry head coach and current athletic director. Palombo shared the coach of the year award with Johnson in 2004. This year marks the third time in six years that Palombo has been named the league's top coach. After leading his squad to its first ODAC championship last year and consecutive NCAA appearances, his team is the number one seed heading into this weekend's tournament. He has a career winning percentage of 63-percent including back-to-back 24-5 records the last two years.

Woods-Morrow's selection as the league's top rookie marks the first major men's basketball ODAC award in the program's two year history. He made a name for himself in the paint this season, leading his team and ranking second in the conference in rebounding at 8.9 boards per game. He posted 10 double-doubles, which placed second in the conference. He scored in double figures in 15 games, going for a season-high 21 points with 11 rebounds against Randolph-Macon on January 24.

On the court, Heller is the Generals' leading scorer (10.5 ppg) and rebounder (5.0 rpg). He returned from an injury that caused him to miss last season and appeared in all 25 games this season with five starts He has scored in double figures in 12 games, including a career-high 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting in a 67-66 (OT) loss to Bridgewater. In the classroom, Heller boasted a 3.473 grade point average while majoring in accounting. He has also been a previous member of the All-ODAC Academic Team.

Listed below are the 2009 Men's Basketball All-ODAC Teams. For more information on men's basketball as well as the upcoming tournament and the rest of the league's sports, visit the ODAC on the Internet at www.odacoline.com.

2009 MEN'S BASKETBALL ALL-ODAC TEAMS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Justin Short, Sr., Guard, Randolph-Macon
COACH OF THE YEAR: Tom Palombo, Guilford
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Derrick Woods-Morrow, Fr., Forward, Randolph
ODAC/FARM BUREAU SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Ben Heller, Sr., Forward, Washington and Lee

ALL-ODAC FIRST TEAM
Clay Henson, Jr., Guard, Guilford
George Johnson, So., Guard, Eastern Mennonite
Turner King, Jr., Guard, Hampden-Sydney
Curtis Peery, Sr., Forward, Roanoke
Tyler Sanborn, Jr., Center, Guilford
Justin Short, Sr., Guard, Randolph-Macon

ALL-ODAC SECOND TEAM
Rhett Bonner, Jr., Guard, Guilford
Jordan Brown, So., Forward, Randolph-Macon
Terrell Dixon, So., Guard, Virginia Wesleyan
Stephen Fields, Jr., Guard, Virginia Wesleyan
D.J. Hinson, So., Forward, Eastern Mennonite
Dominic Trawick, Jr., Guard, Bridgewater
Mason Wooldridge, Jr., Forward, Lynchburg

ALL-ODAC HONORABLE MENTION
Timothy Clarke, So., Guard, Randolph
Steven Echols, Jr., Guard, Lynchburg
Robert Hudson, Sr., Guard, Emory & Henry
Quinton McDuffie, Fr., Center, Virginia Wesleyan
Parrish Walker, So., Guard, Roanoke
Zac White, Jr., Forward, Washington and Lee