April 28, 2008

ARLINGTON, Texas - - Two UT-Arlington men's basketball players have earned Academic All-Southland Conference honors, the league announced Monday.

Junior forward Anthony Vereen and sophomore forward Tommy Moffitt landed on the second team. Vereen has maintained a cumulative 3.01 grade-point average in Exercise and Sports Studies, while Moffiff has a very impressive 3.41 in Criminology and Criminal Justice.

Sam Houston State forward Ryan Bright was the SLC Student-Athlete of the Year.

Honors for the two Mavericks come shortly after the Mavericks turned in one of their most exciting and most successful seasons in school history during the 2007-08 academic year. Vereen and Moffitt were huge contributors on the court. Vereen was the team's leading scorer, averaging 13.8 points per game.

Down the stretch, Vereen scored at least 20 points in five of UTA's final seven games. He was also named Southland Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player, leading UTA to its first-ever SLC Tournament title and berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Moffitt, a versatile and strong defensive presence, averaged 6.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. He played 19.6 minutes per game and hit 21 of 57 3-pointers.

UTA returns all but three players from last season's squad.

2007-08 CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC

ALL-SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL FIRST TEAM

Student-Athlete - School - Class - Hometown - GPA - Major

Ryan Bright - Sam Houston State - Sr. - Deer Park, Texas - 3.64 - Kinesiology

Shamir McDaniel - Sam Houston State - Sr. - Houston, Texas - 3.24 - Marketing

Kevyn Green - Southeastern La. - Sr. - Portland, Oregon - 3.20 - General Studies

Adonis Gray - Nicholls State - Sr. - Thibodaux, La. - 3.10 - General Studies

Michael McConathy - Northwestern State - So. - Natchitoches, La. - 3.56 - Electronics Engineering

ALL-SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE MEN'S BASKETBALL SECOND TEAM

Student-Athlete - School - Class - Hometown - GPA - Major

Darren Hopkins - Lamar - Sr. - Baltimore, Md. - 3.02 - General Studies

Anthony Vereen - UT Arlington - Jr. - Houston, Texas - 3.01 - Exercise and Sports Studies

Tommy Moffitt - UT Arlington - So. - Irving, Texas - 3.41 - Criminology and Criminal Justice

Scott Weaver - Stephen F. Austin - Sr. - Carrollton, Texas - 3.39 - Kinesiology

Barkley Faulkner - Sam Houston State - Jr. - Oxford, Miss. - 3.93 - Accounting