Pair of Panther athletes honored

Panthers receiver Albert Wilson was named to the College Football Performance Awards Wide Receiver Trophy watch list. Last season, Wilson led the team in receiving with 947 yards on 48 receptions. Those numbers were good enough to earn him all-conference honors and praise as one of the best receivers in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Even with the move to the Sun Belt this season, he is still expected to be a very productive player and a leader for his Panthers as well as in the conference. This is what landed him on Phil Steeles All-Sun Belt second team at receiver as well as at return specialist. These are preseason accolades and dont always translate to the field, but the senior wide receiver has the track record to merit such high acclaim.

Wilson is also the all-time leader in receiving yards in Georgia State history with 2,013 yards and 15 touchdowns on 104 recep- tions. He is the definition of big-play threat as evidenced by his 19.4 yards-per-catch average and 14 of his 15 touchdowns having spanned more than 25 yards. Seven of those covered more than 50 yards.

He also made a name for himself returning the football where he averaged 25.9 yards per return last season, earning him co-Special Teams Player of the Year honors in the Colonial Athletic Association.

ON THE DIAMOND ...

Centerfielder Josh Merrigan earned yet another honor this week. Having already been named to the Louisville Slugger Freshman All- American team, he added a second-team selection to the National College Baseball Writers Association Freshman All-American team.

hese honors stem from the most productive season ever by a freshman at Georgia State. He led the Panthers offense that ranked third na- tionally in batting average and fifth in runs per game. From the leadoff spot, Merrigan hit for a .353 average and was also efficient on the base paths going 12-for-12 on stolen base attempts this season.

By doing his job and getting on base, the centerfielder also lead the team in runs scored with 52. Even out of the leadoff spot in the or- der he was able to drive in 36 runs, ranking him third on the team. All of these numbers prove that he deserved to be the Colonial Athletic As- sociation Rookie of the Year this season, making him the first Panther to ever win the award.