March 6, 2008
Richmond, Va. -
Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell have had long and productive careers for the George Mason men's basketball team and the pair became even more highly decorated on Thursday night as they each received All-CAA honors.
Thomas was named first-team All-CAA as well as to the CAA All-Defensive Team and Campbell was named second-team All-CAA. Thomas is first in the CAA in rebounding, second in field-goal percentage and sixth in scoring. He's attempting to become the seventh player in school history to average a double-double. He currently is scoring 16.0 points per game while grabbing 10.4 rebounds and is third in CAA history in career field-goal percentage.
Thomas was chosen second-team All-CAA last year and he was preseason first-team All-CAA this year. The selection to the All-Defensive Team makes him just the fifth player in CAA history to be a three-time All-Defensive Team selection. He joins George Evans as the only Mason player to accomplish that feat. Thomas was runner-up for CAA Player of the Year, finishing behind VCU's Eric Maynor. Thomas, Maynor, Hofstra's Antoine Agudio, UNC Wilmington's T.J. Carter and VCU's Jamal Shuler made up the first team. Thomas was also runner-up for CAA Defensive Player of the Year, finishing behind Old Dominion's Brandon Johnson.
Campbell was named third-team All-CAA last year and was selected to the preseason second-team this year. He is second in the league in scoring in CAA games and he is eighth overall. He also is 10th in the CAA in assists and he has scored 16 or more points in 14 straight games. He is currently averaging 15.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.4 assists. Campbell is the only player in Mason school history to reach 1,400 points, 400 rebounds, 300 assists, 150 3-pointers, 100 steals and 50 blocks. Campbell was the top vote-getter to not make the first team. He was joined on the second team by Northeastern's Matt Janning, UNC Wilmington's Vladimir Kuljanin, Drexel's Frank Elegar and Old Dominion's Gerald Lee.
The All-CAA third team was comprised of Leonard Mendez of Georgia State, Herb Courtney of Delaware, Junior Hairston of Towson, Abdulai Jalloh of James Madison, Marc Egerson of Delaware and Laimis Kisielius of William & Mary. The All-Defensive Team was made up of Johnson, Thomas, Shuler, Elegar and VCU's Larry Sanders. Charles Jenkins of Hofstra was CAA Rookie of the Year. Chad Tomko of UNC Wilmington, Alphonso Dawson of Delaware, Chaisson Allen of Northeastern and Sanders were the other All-Rookie selections.
Sophomore Chris Fleming also was honored on Thursday night as he was named to the CAA All-Academic Second Team. Fleming was also nominated for the Dean Ehlers Award, which was won by UNC Wilmington's Todd Hendley.
The CAA Tournament begins on Friday in Richmond, Va. with four opening-round games. The Patriots, with a first-round bye, will take on either sixth-seeded Northeastern or 11th-seeded James Madison at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
