Bears Bryant & Grant Hit For NCCSIA Honors

Rocky Mount, NC – Two out of thirteen student-athletes, from six different institutions, were representatives of Shaw University’s Baseball Program. Averill Bryant and Michael Grant were voted to 2007 North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) College Division All-State Baseball Team.

Bryant and Grant were granted all access to the all-state baseball team based on their exceptional, persistent performance through the 2007 season. The two All-CIAA and All-Tournament honorees helped escort the Bears to an overall record of 24 – 21. Bryant (No. 22 / Catcher / Senior / Recreation) ranks second in the NCAA Division II (through games of May 20, 2007) with a .488 batting average. The Laurinburg, N.C. native totaled in 40 runs batted in, 10 stolen bases, and a .984 fielding percentage. Grant (No. 20 / Pitcher/ Outfielder/ Senior / Criminal Justice & Religion) finished with a batting average of .459, which ranks third in Division II. Also, the Woodland, N.C. native batted in 55 runs and thieved 33 bases and ranks fourth among the national triples (0.16) and doubles (0.47) per game leaders.
 

The fourth-annual all-state baseball team is comprised of two starting pitchers, one relief pitcher, one catcher, four infielders, four infielders, three outfielders, and one designated hitter. All of which are student-athletes of non-NCAA Division I institutions from North Carolina colleges and universities. The teams were nominated by a host of North Carolina sports information professionals as the NCCSIA members made the final cuts. The remainder of the team is composed of representatives from Mount Olive, Belmont Abbey, N.C. Wesleyan, Catawba, and Chowan.
 

Founded in 2002, NCCSIA is comprised of sports information professionals from North Carolina’s NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA and independent institutions for the purpose of promoting college athletics in the state. Membership is open to anyone affiliated with a college, university or conference located in North Carolina whose responsibilities include sports information.
 

NCCSIA selects all-state teams in the university (NCAA Division I) and college (Division II, III, NAIA) divisions for women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, softball and baseball. Nearly 450 student-athletes have been recognized on all-state teams since 2003.

For more information, visit:

www.nccsia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=1 - 30k -