March 1, 2007

Richmond, Va. - George Mason senior Gabe Norwood was awarded the Colonial Athletic Association's most prestigious honor on Thursday night when he received the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award, becoming the third Patriot to earn the honor. Also earning awards from the CAA were Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas. Campbell was named to third-team All-CAA while Thomas was chosen second-team All-CAA as well as being selected to the CAA All-Defensive Team.

Norwood, who will tie Lamar Butler for second place on the Mason all-time list for games played on Friday, received the award after a four-year career that has seen him earn a place in the Mason record books. The CAA presents the Ehlers Award annually to men's and women's basketball student athletes "who embody the highest standards of leadership, integrity and sportsmanship in conjunction with their academic and athletic achievements."

The award is named in honor of Dean Ehlers, who was the first director of athletics at James Madison and served as president of the CAA during the founding of the conference. George Mason men's basketball players have earned the award more than any other school with the exception of UNC Wilmington, which has had four players receive the honor.

Thomas earned his second selection to the All-Defensive Team, having received a spot on the squad last year. He was also named to the CAA All-Rookie Team in 2004-05. This is his first All-CAA honor. He was chosen to the preseason first team. On the year he is second in the conference in field-goal percentage (.611), fourth in rebounding (7.1) and 12th in scoring (13.7). He is currently 14th in the nation in field-goal percentage after being as high as fourth. He has started every game this season, has appeared in all 93 games in his career and made 65 consecutive starts

Campbell was also selected to the CAA All-Rookie Team in 2004-05 and he was chosen to the preseason second team. He is one of just two players in the conference among the top 12 in scoring, assists and steals, leading Mason in all of those categories. He is 10th in scoring (14.1), ninth in assists (3.57) and 12th in steals (1.36).

Hofstra's Loren Stokes was named Player of the Year, VCU's Anthony Grant was named Coach of the Year while Matt Janning of Northeastern earned Rookie of the Year and Chaz Crawford of Drexel was selected Defensive Player of the Year. Virginia Commonwealth led the way with three All-CAA selections followed by Old Dominion, Hofstra, Drexel and Mason, which each had two. Towson, Delaware, Northeastern and William & Mary each had one honoree.

Stokes, Antoine Agudio of Hofstra, Eric Maynor of VCU, Gary Neal of Towson and Valdas Vasylius were named first-team All-CAA, Thomas, Herb Courtney of Delaware, Frank Elegar of Drexel, B.A. Walker of VCU and Drew Williamson of Old Dominion were named to the second team while Campbell, Northeastern's Bennet Davis, Drexel's Bashir Mason, William & Mary's Adam Payton and Jesse Pellot-Rosa of VCU were chosen to the third team. The All-Defensive Team was comprised of Thomas, Crawford, Mason, Williamson and Brandon Johnson of Delaware while the All-Rookie Team was Janning, Johnson, Pierre Curtis of James Madison, T.J. Gwynn of VCU and David Schneider of William & Mary.