March 28, 2006

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Samford's J. Robert Merritt, the 2006 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year and single-season 3-point record-holder, continued to add to his list of post-season accolades on Tuesday as the Bulldogs' senior forward was officially named an honorable mention All-American by the Associated Press.

With the honor, Merritt became the first basketball player in Samford's storied 104-year history to earn the distinction of being an all-american.

A native of Oklahoma City, Okla., Merritt concluded his illustrious four-year career as the seventh-leading scorer in Samford history with a total of 1,584 points. He started in 112 of the possible 115 games of his career and made 60-consecutive starts in his final two years as a Bulldog.

During the 2005-06 season, Merritt became the first Samford player to be named the OVC Player of the Year. He led the team with 17.6 points per game and set the conference's single-season record for 3-pointers with 120.

Merritt also grabbed an average of 5.2 rebounds per game and connected on a total of 3.9 3-point baskets per contest. He finished the season as the third-ranked player in the nation in 3-point field-goal percentage (47.6) and was fifth in the nation in 3-point field goals per game (3.9).

J.J. Redick of Duke and Adam Morrison of Gonzaga were unanimous selections for The Associated Press' All-America men's basketball team.

The pair was joined by Duke's Shelden Williams, Randy Foye of Villanova and Brandon Roy, Washington's first All-America in 53 years.

Dee Brown of Illinois was the leading vote-getter on the second team and was joined by fellow senior Rodney Carney of Memphis, junior P.J. Tucker of Texas and sophomores Rudy Gay of Connecticut and Leon Powe of California.

The third team included seniors Craig Smith of Boston College and Allan Ray of Villanova, junior Nick Fazekas of Nevada, sophomore Glen Davis of LSU and freshman Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina.

On the honorable mention listing, Samford's Merritt was joined most notably by UCLA's Arron Afflalo, Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge, Gonzaga's J.P. Batista, West Virginia's Mike Gansey, Texas' Daniel Gibson, Indiana's Marco Killingsworth, Pittsburgh's Carl Krauser, Syracuse's Gerry McNamara, Florida's Joakim Noah, West Virginia's Kevin Pittsnogle, Alabama's Ronald Steele, Memphis' Darius Washington and Connecticut's Marcus Williams.

The Samford University basketball team concluded its 2005-06 season with a 20-11 overall record, its best finish since 1999-2000. The Bulldogs tallied a 14-6 conference record and finished as the second-place team in the OVC.

Samford ended as the runner-up to Murray State in the regular season and dropped a 74-57 decision against the Racers in the championship game of the OVC Tournament. The Bulldogs' finish was their best in three years in the conference.