ROCK HILL, S.C.
Seven Tusculum College student-athletes have been named to the 2009 All-South Atlantic Conference Football Team.
For a third straight season, Tusculum tight end Jarrell NeSmith has been named the 2009 South Atlantic Conference Scholar Athlete for Football while rookie quarterback Bo Cordell was tabbed the SAC Offensive Freshman of the Year.
Ryan Tallent, NeSmith, John Gregory, Gareth Rowlands and Skylar West were named to the All-SAC First Team, while Marcus Foster and Hannibal Ruiz earned Second Team recognition.
NeSmith, a 6-2, 225-pound senior from Russellville, Ala., is the first three-time recipient of the Scholar Athlete award in conference history. It also marks the fifth straight year that a Tusculum player has earned this honor and seventh in the last eight seasons.
He also earns All-SAC First Team honors for a second straight season. NeSmith currently leads the league in receiving yards averaging 67.8 per game. The 2008 consensus All-American recorded 56 receptions for 678 yards.
In the classroom, the Pre-Medicine major has a 3.86 cumulative grade point average and is a member of the Tusculum President's List, Dean's List, Charles Oliver Gray List, South Atlantic Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and the TC Athletic Director's Honor Roll.
In the community, NeSmith has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity, Adopt-a-Highway and Drug Awareness program at Holston Homes for Children. He also volunteers with the Lunch Buddies program at Doak Elementary School, which provides mentoring relationships between the Tusculum football players and the school children. He has spoken to youth and high school students on the importance of education and college life at South Greene High School and the Chucky Mullins Center.
Cordell, a 6-1, 205-pound native from Cincinnati, Ohio, is the first player in Tusculum history to earn SAC Offensive Freshman of the Year accolades. He had a remarkable first year with the Pioneers as he passed for 3,458 yards and 23 touchdowns. His passing yardage tally is the second-best in school history and fourth most passing yards in SAC history.
Tallent, a 5-10, 200-pound senior receiver from Maryville, returns to the All-SAC First Team for a third consecutive year. He leads the SAC in receptions per game, averaging 5.9 per contest.
Gregory, a 6-2, 210-pound senior punter from Ooltewah, is the first Tusculum football player to earn All-SAC recognition four times in his career. He ends his career as the greatest punter in school history, establishing TC marks in punt attempts (219), punting yards (9,120) and average career average (41.64).
Rowlands, a 6-1, 195-pound junior placekicker from Wales, Great Britain, leads the league in field goals per game, averaging 1.2 per contest. Rowlands finished 2009 as his team's top scorer with 66 points, while are the third-most kicking points in school history.
West, a 6-5, 190-pound freshman from Oneida, earned his spot as the league's First Team long snapper.
The All-South Atlantic Conference Team is selected by the league's nine head football coaches.
