BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Eric Griffin of Campbell University has been named to the All-District 3 Division I men's basketball team by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Griffin and teammates Trey Freeman and Darren White have also received additional post-season honors.
Griffin joined Matt Dickey and J.P. Primm of UNC Asheville, Nick Barbour of High Point and USC Upstate's Torrey Craig on the first-team all-district 3 unit, which is comprised of players from the Big South and Atlantic Sun Conferences. Kelvin Martin of Charleston Southern, Anthony Raffa of Coastal Carolina, Belmont's Kerron Johnson, Langston Hall of Mercer and Jesse Sanders of Liberty was chosen to the District 3 second team.
The 24 all-district teams are selected and voted on by members of the NABC.
Griffin was also named the CollegeSportsMadness.com Big South player of the year and joined by White on the Madness Big South first-team. Freeman was named to the Madness Big South fourth team.
CollegeHoops.net also chose Griffin to its 5-man Big South all-conference unit.
Last month, Big South Conference coaches named Griffin to the all-league first team and White to the second team. Freeman received the most votes from league coaches on the all-freshman team and was named Big South freshman of the year.
A senior forward from Orlando, Fla., Griffin concluded his two-year Campbell career by breaking the school single-season mark for blocked shots both years. His 73 rejections topped the 61 shots he blocked in 2010-11. The 6-foot-8 transfer from Garden City (Kan.) Community College set a school Division I era (since '77-78) career field goal percentage (.559) record.
Griffin ended his senior campaign ranked 7th nationally in field goal percentage (.610) and 27th in blocked shots (2.35). He led the Big South in field goal accuracy and blocks, while ranking 3rd in rebounding (8.6) and 9th in scoring (15.7) in 2011-12.
In only two varsity seasons, Griffin finished 3rd on Campbell's career blocked shots (134) list in only 60 games. He produced 17 career double-doubles, including 12 this season. In addition, he was a semifinalist in both the ESPN Dunks of the Year competition and State Farm Dark Horse Dunker race.
He produced 5 of the top 7 blocked shots performances by a Big South player this year, including career-high 6 at Iowa, where he scored 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Campbell's 77-61 win over the Hawkeyes. He topped all Big South players with 7 games of 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds and has set a school senior class (Division I era) record for rebounds (268).
A junior guard from Danville, Va., White finished 5th among league scoring (16.8) leaders, 4th in field goal shooting (.520), 7th in blocks (1.06) and 19th in rebounding (5.5). The 6-foot-4 guard scored 20 or more points 10 times this season, including a pair of 33-point efforts (in wins over North Carolina A&T and Methodist).
White scored in double figures in 28 of 32 games with 4 double-doubles. His 536 points tied for the 4th-highest single-season total in school Division I era ('77-78) and set a school junior class record.
Freeman was the first Camel to earn conference freshman of the year honors since Lorne Merthie was named the Atlantic Sun top frosh in 2009. A point guard from Virginia Beach, Va., Freeman led all Big South freshmen in scoring (13.9), free throw percentage (.871), field goal accuracy (.437), assist-turnover ratio (1.59) and minutes played (32.03), while ranking 2nd in assists (3.83).
He led the conference and ranked 26th in the nation in foul shooting. Overall, he finished sixth in assists, fifth in assist-turnover ratio, 8th in minutes and 14th in scoring.
Freeman scored in double digits 23 times in 28 games, including five, 20-point efforts. He scored a season-high 28 points in a 96-82 win over Liberty (Dec. 1), tallied 22 in a 62-57 triumph over Charleston Southern (Feb. 2) and had 20 (including 12-of-12 from the line) in Campbell's 76-74 victory against East Carolina (Nov. 14).
The 6-foot-2 guard opened the year by setting a school record of 29-straight free throws made, a mark he broke in January and February when he hit 35-straight from the line.
Despite being picked 9th in the pre-season poll of Big South head coaches, Robbie Laing's Fighting Camels finished 3rd in the league with a 17-15 overall record and 11-7 conference mark. The Camels knocked off a BCS conference member school (Iowa) for the second-straight year and finished 12th in the nation in field goal percentage (.484).
Campbell led the Big South in blocked shots and finished second in defensive field goal percentage (.431).
