BUIES CREEK, N.C. – For the second-straight year, Jonathan Rodriguez of Campbell University has been named to the Atlantic Sun men's basketball all-conference first team. A sophomore from Miami, Fla., Rodriguez leads the conference and ranks 24th nationally in scoring (21.0), while rating 18th in the country (2nd in the league) in rebounding (10.2).

Rodriguez has scored in double figures in 37-straight games and has recorded 12 games of 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds this year. He is one of only six players in Division I to average 20 and 10 boards per game.

He also stands 9th among A-Sun leaders in field goal percentage (.488), 7th in free throw accuracy (.768), 11th in steals (1.55), 2nd in offensive rebounds (3.1), 2nd in defensive boards (7.1) and 3rd in minutes played (35.03).

Rodriguez was joined on the A-Sun first-team by league player of the year Thomas Sanders from Gardner-Webb, Belmont's Justin Hare, Courtney Pigram of East Tennessee State and Ben Smith of Jacksonville.

Belmont's Rick Byrd was named A-Sun coach of the year after guiding the Bruins to their second regular season title in three years. Nate Blank of Gardner-Webb was named freshman of the year, while Mercer's Calvin Henry gained defensive player of the year honors.

Eddie Ard (Lipscomb), Garfield Blair (Stetson), Shane Dansby (Belmont), James Florence (Mercer) and Kevin Tiggs (ETSU) formed the second-team all-conference unit.

Blank was joined on the all-freshman team by Jordan Campbell of Belmont, Ayron Hardy of Jacksonville and Lipscomb teammates Adnan Hodzic and Josh Slater.

With 609 points in 29 games, the 6-foot-5 forward is only the 2nd player in CU Division I history (since 1977-78) to reach 600 points in a season, joining Clarence Grier (739 in ‘86-87). Rodriguez is the only player in Campbell senior college (since 1961) history to score more than 500 points in both his freshman and sophomore seasons.

A native of Bayamon, Puerto Rico and graduate of Miami (Fla.) Calusa Prep, Rodriguez has already set seven school records this year, including most points scored in an A-Sun road game – a career-high 34 at Gardner-Webb on Feb. 16. He pulled down a personal best 18 rebounds last Thursday at Belmont.

In CU's Feb. 25 game vs. East Tennessee State, Rodriguez moved past Corey Best (1099 points from 1994-98), Brad Childress (1105 from 1986-90) and Don Whaley (1118 from 1973-77) into 20th place on Campbell's all-time scoring list. Rodriguez has 1145 points in 60 career games (19.1 per game).

On Feb. 9 at Mercer, he joined Cordell Wise (1967-70) as the fastest players in Camel history (54 games) to reach the 1,000 point barrier since the school reached senior college (since 1961) status. Wise scored his 1000th point in his 54th career game (Nov. 22, 1969 vs. High Point). Rodriguez also became the first Camel sophomore ever to reach 1000 points in his career.

Wise played three years at Campbell (1967-70) after transferring from Temple. He earned NAIA All-America honors in 1970 and finished his career with 1584 points in 84 games. Sam Staggers (1947 points in 119 games from 1973-77) is CU's all-time leading scorer at the senior college level.

Rodriguez also grabbed his 500th career rebound during the Mercer game (Feb. 9) and ranks 7th on CU's all-time Division I boards list (568).

Not only does Rodriguez lead the Atlantic Sun Conference in scoring (21.4), but he also leads the league in free throws attempted (259). In fact, "J-Rod" has made more foul shots (199) than all but two players in the entire conference have attempted.

Thomas Sanders of Gardner-Webb (139-221) and Garfield Blair of Stetson (157-210) are the only A-Sun players who have more attempts from the charity stripe than Rodriguez has makes. On the year, Rodriguez is shooting 76.8 percent from the stripe, 7th-best in the league; 79.6 percent (121-152) in A-Sun games (9th in the conference).

2008 Atlantic Sun All-Conference

First Team

Justin Hare Sr. G Belmont
Courtney Pigram Jr. G ETSU
Jonathan Rodriguez So. F Campbell
Thomas Sanders Sr. F Gardner-Webb
Ben Smith So. G Jacksonville

Second Team
Eddie Ard Sr. F Lipscomb
Garfield Blair Jr. G Stetson
Shane Dansby Jr. G Belmont
James Florence So. G Mercer
Kevin Tiggs Jr. F ETSU

All-Freshman Team
Nate Blank Fr. F Gardner-Webb
Jordan Campbell Fr. F Belmont
Ayron Hardy Fr. F Jacksonville
Adnan Hodzic Fr. C Lipscomb
Josh Slater Fr. G Lipscomb

Player of the Year: Thomas Sanders (Gardner-Webb)
Freshman of the Year: Nate Blank (Gardner-Webb)
Defensive Player of the Year: Calvin Henry (Mercer)
Coach of the Year: Rick Byrd (Belmont)