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NICK GRAZIANO NAMED AN AFCA NCAA DIVISION II
COACHES'
ALL-AMERICA SELECTION
WACO,
Texas –
The postseason accolades continue to roll in for
Arkansas Tech senior quarterback Nick Graziano as
he joined some elite company on Tuesday as he became
just the fifth Wonder Boy to ever be selected as an AFCA
(American Football Coaches Association) Division II
Coaches’ All-American honoree.
 Graziano,
who is one of the top finalists for this season’s Harlon
Hill Trophy, which is given annually to the top football
player in Division II, was one of four Gulf South
Conference players chosen to the 25-player team that is
selected exclusively by the 148-member NCAA Division II
coaches.
The AFCA Division II All-America selection Committee was
made up of three head coaches from each of the nine
AFCA’s districts, one of whom serves as a district
chairman, along with another head coach who serves as
the chairman of the selection committee. The coaches in
each district are responsible for ranking the top
players in their respective districts prior to a
conference call between the district chairman and the
committee chairman on which the team is chosen.
Graziano, who is the first offensive player chosen to
the team from Tech, joins former Wonder Boy kicker
Piotr Styczen (1995), defensive lineman Tommy
Edwards (2003), cornerback Quincy Skinner
(2006) and punter Michael Podobnik (2007) as AFCA
Division II All-Americans. In addition, Graziano becomes
the first GSC quarterback to be named an AFCA D-II
All-American since Valdosta State’s Dusty Bonner was
honored in 2000.
“What a tremendous and truly deserving honor for Nick
Graziano,” Tech Head Football Coach and Athletic
Director Steve Mullins said upon the announcement
of this year’s team. “He
is very deserving of all of his postseason honors. He
will leave Tech as one of the best quarterbacks to not
only play here, but also in the state of Arkansas.”
Graziano,
a native of Moraga, Calif., and a transfer from the
University of Nevada, earns this year’s AFCA All-America
honor after
being named both the Gulf South Conference and the
Daktronics Super Region Two Offensive Player of the
Year. On the season, Graziano, who rewrote both the
school’s single-season passing and total offensive mark
records, passed for a school and GSC-record 4,313 yards
and accounted for a school and GSC record 4,768 yards of
total offense. Graziano finished the season 333-for-538
passing and completed nearly 62 percent of his passes
and is ranked second nationally in total offense (397.3
yards/game) and third nationally in both passing (359.4
yards/game) and points responsible for (22.5
points/game). He threw a school and Arkansas record 38
touchdown passes and only 12 interceptions in 12 games.
Graziano had a hand in 45 of Tech’s school record 66
touchdowns as he scored seven times on the ground,
including an 82-yard touchdown run in Tech’s 35-23 win
over Delta State. Along with his passing, Graziano also
gained 455 yards rushing on 76 carries, including
rushing for a team-best 196 yards in that game against
Delta State.
He was named a four-time GSC Offensive Player of the
Week and was a three-time National co-Offensive Player
of the Week by D2Football.com. Graziano became the first
GSC player since Valdosta State’s Lance Funderburk in
1996 to be named the league’s Offensive Player of the
Week four times in the same season. He has had Tech’s
only 400-yard passing games in school history, a feat he
has accomplished six times on the year, including
throwing for a single-game school record 465 yards in
Tech’s 41-13 home playoff win over UNC Pembroke. He has
accounted for six of the Top 7 single-game total
offensive marks in school history, including gaining a
school record 546 total yards against Delta State, which
is the sixth-best single-game mark in GSC history. Along
with that, he had 58 plays of 20 yards or more this
season, four of the Top 25 single-game total offensive
yard performances in Division II this season and four of
the Top 20 single-game passing yard performances this
season in Division II.
In addition to Graziano, the other GSC players named to
the AFCA D-II Coaches’ All-America team were Southern
Arkansas defensive lineman Cedric Thornton, Delta State
linebacker Lardester Hicks-Green and Harding defensive
back Josh Jones.
Listed below is the complete 25-player AFCA Division II
All-American team. Wayne State running back Joique Bell,
who is another of the three finalists for the Harlon
Hill Trophy, was named an AFCA All-American in 2006.
OFFENSE Pos. Yr. School
(Hometown)
Frederick Bruno WR Jr. Wayne State
[NE] (Miami, Fla.)
Mike Harris WR Sr.
Shippensburg (East Earl, Pa.)
Nick McDonald OL Sr. Grand
Valley St.
(Sterling Heights, Mich.)
Andy Schoonover OL Sr. Minn.
St.-Mankato (Boyceville, Wis.)
Jack Hiett OL Sr.
Nebraska-Kearney (Arvada, Colo.)
Jared Veldheer OL Sr. Hillsdale
(Grand Rapids, Mich.)
Tony Washington OL Sr. Abilene
Christian (New Orleans, La.)
Nick Graziano QB Sr. Arkansas Tech
(Moraga, Cailf.)
Joique Bell RB Sr. Wayne
St. [MI] (Benton Harbor, Mich.)
Isaac Odim RB Jr.
Minnesota-Duluth (Rochester, Mich.)
Jonas Randolph RB So. Mars Hill
(Daleville, Ala.)
DEFENSE
Xavier Brown DL Jr. C.W. Post
(Bay Shore, N.Y.)
Marc Schiechl DL Jr. Colorado
Mines (Lakewood, Colo.)
Eugene Sims DL Sr. West Texas
A&M (Mt. Olive, Miss.)
Cedric Thornton DL Jr. Southern
Arkansas (Star City, Ark.)
L. Hicks-Green LB Sr. Delta
State (Chicago, Ill.)
John Jacobs LB Sr. Saginaw
Valley St. (Prudenville, Mich.)
Zach Watkins LB Sr. Washburn
(Independence, Mo.)
Buddy Wood LB Sr. Central
Wash. (Chattaroy, Wash.)
Myles Burnsides DB Sr. NW Missouri
State (Maryville, Mo.)
Josh Jones DB Sr. Harding
(Carson, Calif.)
Quintez Smith DB Sr. Shaw
(Dublin, Ga.)
SPECIALISTS
Kevin Berg P
Jr. Chardon State (Longmont, Colo.)
Greg Zuerlein K
Jr. Nebraska-Omaha (Lincoln, Neb.)
Akwasi Owusu-Ansah AP Sr. Indiana
[PA] (Columbus, Ohio)
2009 AFCA Division II Coaches' All-America Team
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Tech Athletics -- |