April 13, 2010

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) officially awarded Samford's Trey Montgomery with its annual All-American Strength and Conditioning Athlete of the Year Award Tuesday - recognizing the Bulldogs' basketball player's dedication to strength training and conditioning.

This year, the NSCA awarded 232 collegiate athletes from 106 schools with this esteemed award. Montgomery was selected by Samford strength coach Thomas Rohling.

"Trey makes my job easier, by this I mean that he holds his teammates accountable in the weight room as it pertains to effort and attention to details," said Rohling. "Because of this I am allowed to coach and teach as opposed to babysitting.

"Academically, Montgomery has never had to attend summer school, but because his desire is to improve his level of play he has never failed to stay in town each and every summer to train and play pickup ball with other players from local area colleges and universities. I will hate to see Trey leave."

Montgomery, a native of Destrehan, La., closed out his illustrious Samford career as one of the best floor generals in school history. He was a vital member of the team since his redshirt freshman season in 2006 and closed out his career with a total of 1,030 points.

The Bulldogs' 6-foot-4 guard earned playing time in 112 games and started in 88-consecutive outings; dating back to Nov. 26, 2007.

A two-time winner of both the Kevy McInnis Award and the Practice Hard Award in 2009 and 2010, Montgomery became the 21st player in school history to reach the prestigious 1,000-point mark and finished his tenure ranked 19th in all-time scoring. He also earned Samford's Rebounding and Assist Awards in 2009 and concluded his career with over 350 rebounds, 200 assists and 100 steals.

"The advantages of strength training and conditioning cannot be denied in collegiate athletics," said NSCA Executive Director Robert Jursnick. "These student-athletes attest to this understanding, and are to be applauded for their hard work and dedication."

The NSCA All-American Athlete of the Year Award program is in its 32nd year, and is made possible by a grant from Power Systems, Inc., a Knoxville, Tenn., fitness product leader.