Smith Named to Street & Smith Preseason All-America Men's Basketball Team

by Sports Information
10/13/05

LANCASTER, PA -- Street & Smith Sports Group has announced the selection of Franklin & Marshall College guard/forward Brandon Smith (Sr., Reading, PA/Governor Mifflin) as a Division III Preseason All-America Honorable Mention selection in the 2005-06 edition of Street & Smith's College Basketball, an annual dedicated to highlighting the upcoming college basketball season.

His selection marks the third preseason All-America in as many years for Franklin & Marshall as center Steve Juskin ‘04 and forward Bobby Lynch ’05 were also named Street & Smith Preseason All-America honorable mention selections prior to their senior years.

A 2005 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Southern Men’s Basketball first team, National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Men's Basketball All-Middle Atlantic Region second team and All-Centennial Conference first team selection, Smith recorded 527 points, 216 rebounds, 73 assists, 20 blocks and 67 steals last season as he led the Diplomats to the Centennial Conference regular season championship and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region title.

In the Centennial Conference, he finished second in steals (2.23 spg), fourth in scoring (17.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg), sixth in defensive rebounds (5.13 rpg), ninth in three point field goals made (1.77 pg), 10th in field goal percentage (.518), offensive rebounds (2.07 rpg) and three point field goal percentage (.387), 11th in minutes played (29.87 pg), 13th in assists (2.43 apg) and 14th in blocked shots (0.67 bpg) with seven double-doubles to raise his career numbers to 1,099 points, 485 rebounds, 185 assists, 48 blocks and 154 steals in 90 games.

The 2005 ECAC Tournament Most Valuable Player, he averaged 22.0 points and 9.0 rebounds with 10 assists, six steals and 11 blocks while shooting .605 (23-of-38) from the field and .429 (six-of-14) from beyond the arc to defeat Lincoln University (116-100 W), the University of Scranton (79-68 W) and Catholic University (66-56 W) as Franklin & Marshall earned its third ECAC title in as many chances.

Against Lincoln, he recorded 26 points, eight rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes before tallying 18 points, eight rebounds and five steals in the title game versus Catholic.

Overall, he joins Ursinus College point guard Mike McGarvey as the Centennial Conference players named to the preseason All-America team as Street & Smith honored 31 players.

During his three year career at the College, Smith has led Franklin & Marshall to a 74-16 record, 41-8 in the Centennial Conference, as the Diplomats have claimed three Centennial Conference regular season championships, two ECAC titles (2003 & 2005), a Centennial Conference title (2004) and an NCAA bid (2004).

In the NCAA tournament as a sophomore, Franklin & Marshall College advanced to the "Elite Eight" as the berth marked the 19th in the history of men's basketball at the College. Previously, Franklin & Marshall College earned NCAA tournament bids in 1975, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1986-1996, 1999 and 2000, including appearances in four Final Fours (1979, 1991, 1996, 2000).

F&M, which knocked off Hampden-Sydney 78-76 in the round of 32, defeated Gwynedd Mercy (92-72 W) in the "Sweet 16", but fell to Amherst 82-70 in the "Elite Eight" to conclude the season among the top eight teams in the nation as the team's 26-4 record (17-1 in Centennial Conference play) marked the program's best mark and highest winning percentage (.867) since the 1996 team concluded the year 29-3 (.906) in the NCAA "Final Four".

Last season, F&M finished 23-7, 14-4 in the Centennial Conference, to finish with the program’s 20th 20-win season and the fourth consecutive championship as the team captured the 2002, 2003 and 2005 ECAC titles and a Centennial Conference Championship in 2004.

Franklin & Marshall will open the 2005-06 season on November 18-19 in the Annual S. Woodrow Sponagule Tip-Off Tournament with SUNY-Cortland, Trinity College (CT) and Gwynedd-Mercy College at F&M’s Mayser Center.

Street & Smith 's College Basketball is a publication of Street & Smith's Sports Group, a division of American City Business Journals, Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina. It is available on newsstands and in bookstores across the globe.