Thursday, October 30, 2008

BUIES CREEK, N.C.- The list of accolades continues to grow for Campbell University junior Jonathan Rodriguez. The 6-foot-5 forward has been named to the CollegeHoops.net pre-season Mid-Major All-America third team. Atlantic Sun's 2007 Player of the Year, ETSU's Courtney Pigram, also received CollegeHoops.net Honorable Mention Mid-Major All-American.

Rodriguez was earlier named to the 2008-09 Atlantic Sun pre-season all-conference men's basketball team by league head coaches. He was chosen pre-season A-Sun player by Lindy's basketball yearbook.

The CollegeHoops.net pre-season team is led by Mid-Major player of the year Stephen Curry of Davidson. The only other Atlantic Sun Conference performer on the unit was East Tennessee State senior guard Courtney Pigram, who was chosen the honorable mention unit. Also named to the honorable mention team was guard David Holsten of Chicago State, which is Campbell's first round opponent Dec. 29 in the UCF Holiday Classic.

A two-time first-team all-conference performer, Rodriguez led the conference and ranked 22nd nationally in scoring (20.9), while rating 20th in the country (second in the league) in rebounding (10.1) during 2007-09. The 6-foot-5 forward from Bayamon, Puerto Rico and Miami (Fla.) Calusa Prep enters 2008-09 as the second-highest scorer among all NCAA Division I juniors with 1,162 points. He trails only Davidson's Stephen Curry, who has tallied 1,662 points in his first two years.

"J-Rod"; finished the 2007-08 season as one of six players to average at least 20 points per game and 10 rebounds per game. That group included NBA lottery pick Michael Beasley (Kansas State), Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody (Notre Dame) and National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina).

Senior shooting guard Courtney Pigram returns for his final season in the blue and gold, having led the Bucs in scoring during both the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons. A year ago, Pigram averaged a team-best 15.8 points per game while also finishing sixth in the A-Sun with 3.4 assists per contest. Having scored 1,445 points in his career, Pigram stands seventh on ETSU's all-time scoring list and will look to move up that ladder throughout the 2008-09 campaign.