University of Massachusets Athletics
James Named A-10 Defensive Football Player Of Year
November 23, 2004 | Football
Nov. 23, 2004
PHILADELPHIA - UMass junior Shannon James (Straford, Conn.) was named the Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday. He was joined on the A-10 First Team by offensive lineman Rob Kane (Londonberry, N.H.) and tailback Steve Baylark (Apopka, Fla.). Defensive back Tracy Belton (Landover, Md.) and punter Christian Koegel (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) were named to the second team and defensive lineman Keron Williams (Lake Park, Fla.) earned third team honors. For James, he is the first UMass player to earn a league Defensive Player of the Year award since Brian Corcoran in 1994.
James leads the Conference and shares the national lead in interceptions with eight while registering 75 tackles, including 59 solo stops. The junior picked off two passes in three of Massachusetts' 11 games this season and his 16 career interceptions are the most of any active player in I-AA.
The two-time Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week is the first A-10 defensive back to be named the Conference's Defensive Player of the Year since Darren Sharper (William & Mary) in 1996. He joins former Minutemen standouts Brian Corcoran (1994) and John McKeown (1988) in earning Defensive Player of the Year accolades.
James was a third team honoree in 2003.
Baylark led the A-10 in rushing with 1,138 yards (103.5 per game). He gained more than 100 yards in five games this season including four in a row late in the season. He currently ranks fifth all-time in career rushing yards with 2,235 after just two seasons. His 1,138 yards this season is the 11th best single-season total in UMass history and his 243 carries stands ninth on the list. He rushed for 191 yards on 43 carries, third-most in a game at UMass history, at New Hampshire. On the season, he also had nine catches for 90 yards. Baylark was a All A-10 Second team honoree last season.
Kane, a senior captain, has been the stalwart of the UMass offensive line. He has headed up the crew that led to Baylark's huge season. Behind Kane, the UMass offensive line helped the Minutemen to 138.8 rushing yards per game and 366.4 yards of total offense each game. Kane was named to the All-Conference second team last season.
Belton had a stellar season as he was second on the team in interceptions with five for 62 yards. He also racked up 57 tackles, 49 solo, as he started all 11 games at cornerback. Belton picked off passes in back-to-back games on several occasions with one at Delaware State and vs. Colgate in the first two weeks of the season. He also had picks in three games in a row at Boston College, James Madison and New Hampshire.
Koegel finished as the A-10's second-best punter in average with a 41.3, which was the third-best season in school history. Koegel had 15 punts inside the 20 yard-line. He also boomed a 76-yard punt vs. Delaware, the third longest in school history. Koegel set the Atlantic 10 record for punt yardage (526) at Boston College. He was named A-10 Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 26. He had at least one punt of 47 yards or more in each game this season.
Williams came back from an early season injury to have a monster season on defense. He had 15.5 tackles for loss - an unofficial school record for a single-season. Williams led UMass in sacks with six and forced fumbles with three, playing in jury nine games. Williams had 38 total tackles, with nearly half going for a loss.
Here is the complete conference release
William & Mary quarterback Lang Campbell has been named the Atlantic 10 Football Conference Offensive Player of the Year and defensive back Shannon James of Massachusetts has been named Defensive Player of the Year in voting conducted among the league's head coaches.
In that same vote, William & Mary's Greg Kuehn was selected as the Atlantic 10's Special Teams Player of the Year, James Madison defensive back Tony LeZotte and quarterback Ricky Santos of New Hampshire earned Rookie of the Year honors, and Sean McDonnell of New Hampshire was chosen as Coach of the Year.
Campbell is the first-ever William & Mary player to earn Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Year laurels. The senior from Winchester, VA, enters this weekend's NCAA playoff game with Hampton leading the Conference in seven offensive categories, including passing yards (3,037) and completion percentage (66 percent). A three-time A-10 Offensive Player of the Week selection in 2004, Campbell ranks in the top 10 nationally in passing efficiency (164.8 - third) and total offense (294.4 ypg. - eighth) and surpassed the 300-yard passing mark five times this season, tops in the Conference. The senior signal caller has not thrown an interception in his last 235 attempts and has just one in 326 attempts this season. His 21-to-1 TD-INT ratio ranks first in I-AA and he leads all Division I-A and I-AA signal callers with a miniscule 0.31 interception ratio. One of 16 candidates for the Walter Payton Award, which is presented to the top player in I-AA, Campbell led the Tribe to a share of the Atlantic 10 South Division title with a 7-1 record and an overall mark of 9-2. William & Mary is the third seed in the I-AA playoffs.
Kuehn leads the Atlantic 10 and ranks second nationally in field goals made with 16 while his 8.4 ppg. average is good for third in the Conference. The Potomac Falls, VA, resident nailed game-winning field goals versus James Madison, New Hampshire and Northeastern and was twice named the A-10 Special Teams Player of the Week this season. The junior has connected on all 44 of his extra-point attempts this year and his 43 career field goals are the fourth-highest total in league history.
LeZotte ranks fourth in the Conference with 115 tackles, the most by a freshman in James Madison history. The three-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week selection reached double-digits in tackles in six of the Dukes' 11 contests and also intercepted a pair of passes. The Augusta, GA, native has been instrumental in leading a JMU defense which leads the A-10 in rushing (87.7 ypg.) and scoring (17.0 ppg.) and is the first-ever James Madison standout to garner Rookie of the Year honors. In addition to his Rookie of the Year honors, which he shares with Santos, Le Zotte is the first A-10 freshman to earn first-team All-Conference acclaim since former Boston University offensive lineman Bob Speight in 1978.
Santos has tossed at least four touchdowns in four of the Wildcats' 11 games this season in leading UNH to the North Division title and a berth in the I-AA playoffs for the first time since 1994. A five-time A-10 Rookie and two-time Player of the Week selection, Santos averages 251.5 passing yards per game, good for second in the Conference and the most by a freshman in league history. The Bellingham, MA, resident leads the Atlantic 10 in touchdown passes with 29, while ranking 10th nationally in passing efficiency (154.0). His 538-yard performance versus Villanova on October 2 was the highest single-game performance by a freshman in Conference history. Santos is the second UNH player to garner A-10 Rookie of the Year laurels, the other being running back Curt Collins in 1980.
Notables on the All-Conference first-team offense include Maine running back Marcus Williams, a three-time 1,000-yard rusher and two-time first-team selection; New Hampshire wide receiver David Ball, who leads the Conference in receptions (84), receiving yards (1,488) and touchdown catches (17) and set a league record for receiving yards per game (135.3) by a sophomore; and senior Dustin Bayer, the first Rhode Island offensive lineman to garner first-team accolades since Bob White in 1985.
Notables on the first-team defense include a pair of four-time All-Conference and three-time first-team honorees in Northeastern linebacker Liam Ezekiel and defensive back/kick returner Sidney Haugabrook of Delaware; junior defensive lineman Tom Parks of Delaware, who leads the A-10 with 10 sacks; and Darrell Adams and Brian Hulea of Villanova, who were selected to the first-team for the second consecutive year.
McDonnell earns his first Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year honor for leading New Hampshire to the A-10 North Division title with a 6-2 Conference mark. Boasting a 9-2 overall record - the most wins by the Wildcats since 1994 - UNH visits Georgia Southern this weekend in the opening round of the I-AA playoffs, the program's first NCAA appearance since 1994. New Hampshire owns a perfect 7-0 record on the road this season - the most road wins in program annals - and its 35-24 win over Rutgers on Sept. 11 was the Wildcats' first defeat of a I-A opponent in school history. UNH's current No. 5 ranking in both the The Sports Network and ESPN/USA Today polls is the highest in team history and marks the 12th week in which the Wildcats have been ranked in 2004. McDonnell, a 1978 graduate of New Hampshire, is in his sixth season at UNH, where he has compiled a 32-35 record.
