Guilford's Ben Strong Named DIII News Preseason National Player of the Year

Greensboro, N.C. (10/12/07) -- DIII News, a leading publication covering Division III basketball, named Guilford College's Ben Strong as its NCAA Division III Preseason Player of the Year Friday. Strong, a 6-11 center, is ranked first among the publication's Top 24 All-Americans, which is comprised of three players from each of the eight regions.

Last season, Strong received national player of the year awards from D3hoops.com and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). As a junior, he averaged 25.4 points, 11.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in 29 games. He ranked fourth among the national leaders in scoring, ninth in rebounding and 12th in blocks per game. Strong won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference’s (ODAC) Player of the Year Award and was a five-time ODAC Player of the Week. He also ranked 40th among the national field-goal percentage leaders (.585) and made a team-leading 79.7 percent of his free throws. His 737 points and 25.4 scoring average rank fourth in school history, first among Guilford’s Division III students. He recorded 18 double-doubles and scored at least 20 points in 19 games. The Quakers' top rebounder had 18 games with 10 or more boards, including a career-high 19 caroms in Guilford's Jan. 13 win over Emory & Henry College.

Strong poured in an NCAA Division III Tournament-record 59 points, including the winning free throw with 12.2 seconds left, in Guilford’s 129-128 triple-overtime win over Lincoln (Pa.) University in the third round of the 2007 NCAA playoffs. The performance stands second to Austin Carr's 61-point effort for Notre Dame against Ohio University in 1970 in NCAA men's basketball championships history. Strong's 59 points set league and school scoring marks and helped him win the Most Outstanding Player Award at the four-team NCAA sectional tournament. He enters his senior season ranked 13th in school history with 1,494 career points in 83 games.

Strong helped coach Tom Palombo’s Quakers to their best record (24-5) in over 30 years and their first NCAA Division III playoff appearance. The Quakers won three NCAA games to reach the tournament quarterfinals before falling to eventual national runner-up Virginia Wesleyan, 81-71, March 10. Guilford won a school-record 15 ODAC games and earned the second seed for the league’s eight-team tournament, also an all-time high. Strong is one of 13 letter winners due back in 2007. The Quakers open the season with a Nov. 5 exhibition game at the University of South Carolina.