COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Old Dominion linebacker Jason Henderson and punter Ethan Duane have been named preseason first-team All-Sun Belt selections by Phil Steele, while teammates Javon Harvey, Terry Jones and LaMareon James made the third team.
Henderson led the country with 186 tackles last season, breaking the ODU and Sun Belt single-season records, and was a second-team All-American.
Duane averaged 42.9 yards per punt and led the Sun Belt with 28 punts downed inside the 20.
ODU will opens the season Sept. 2 at Virginia Tech.
Four W&M players are All-Americans
William & Mary linebacker John Pius and three of his teammates have been selected to the Bluebloods Preseason All-America Team.
Pius made the first team, while defensive end Nate Lynn and left tackle Charles Grant were on the second team and running back Bronson Yoder was on the third team.
Pius was the runner-up for the Buck Buchanan Award, which honors the national defensive player of the year in the FCS. He was also the CAA Defensive Player of the Year.
COLLEGE BASEBALL
UVA trio make NCBA All-America list
Three Virginia players have been named National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBA) All-Americans.
Catcher Kyle Teel and pitcher Connelly Early each made the first team, while third baseman Jake Gelof was on the second team.
Teel, a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and a finalist for the Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award, is hitting .417 with 67 runs, 25 doubles, 13 homers and 69 RBIs.
Early is 12-2 with a 3.06 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 82.1 innings this season.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NSU, Hampton to play in Paradise Jam
The Norfolk State and Hampton men’s basketball teams will compete in the Paradise Jam on Nov. 17-20 in St. Thomas at the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Other schools in the field include Florida Gulf Coast, Fordham, Kent State, San Jose State, Missouri State and Abilene Christian.
It will be the Spartans’ fourth appearance in the tournament. They also competed in 2015, 2011 and 2005.
NSU will open play against Fordham at 2 p.m. on Nov. 17. The Spartans finished 22-11 last season after falling to Howard by a point in the MEAC Tournament championship game.
* Hampton basketball stars Marquis Godwin and Najee Garvin have been invited to participate in the inaugural HBCU All-Star Dream Classic on Aug. 5 at Rucker Park in New York.
* Dominic Parker has returned as assistant head coach to the Christopher Newport men’s basketball team after previously spending two seasons on the Captains’ staff. The Raleigh, North Carolina, native was an assistant coach at Guilford College the past three seasons.
Briefly
* Kansas City Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, a former Old Dominion star, has a torn labrum in his right shoulder and will undergo season-ending surgery. Pasquantino was hitting .247 with nine homers and 26 RBIs though his first 61 games, but he began feeling some discomfort in his shoulder during a game against Baltimore on June 9. He had an MRI exam Monday that revealed the extent of the injury.
* Virginia golfer Ben James has earned first-team All-America honors from Golfweek. He was one of only two freshmen to receive the honor. He posted a school-record stroke average of 69.0 in 13 tournaments and had 11 top-six finishes this season.
* Golfweek has named Virginia women’s golfer Amanda Sambach a first-team All-American. She set school records with three victories and a 71.31 stroke average this season.
* Old Dominion swimmer Brynn Jewell finished second in the non-wet suit female division of the Great Chesapeake Bay 4.4-Mile Open Water Swim on Sunday. The annual event consists of a 4.4-mile swim across Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay.
