Nov. 29, 2007

Virginia Beach, Va. - It was announced on Wednesday evening that Bethune-Cookman University senior linebacker Ronnie McCullough has been named as the 2007 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year for football as voted on by Sports Information Directors and head football coaches around the league.

McCullough was selected to the 2007 All-MEAC First Team for defense, and finished the season with five MEAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. That mark includes a stretch of four (4) awards in a row ranging from week seven through nine. He was a hard-hitting part of the Wildcats powerful defensive unit as he led the nation in tackles-per-game at the end of the regular season.

Referred to by many as "The Minister of Defense", McCullough has been invited to several end-of-year bowls for college/university seniors, as well as earning two Don Hansen Football Gazette All-Defensive Team honors in the season.

He ended the campaign with a league-best 149 tackles--including 20 stops behind the line of scrimmage. McCullough collected the second-highest single-game tackle-performance against Hampton (23), while tallying a total of three 20-plus tackle games. That includes 9-of-10 games played with double-digit tackles as he missed the season-opener (vs. Jacksonville) and most of the Norfolk State game due to injury.

This is the first MEAC Defensive Player of the Year award for any Wildcat competitor since Steve Baggs (2003) and Rashean Mathis (2002) in back-to-back seasons. John Bostic (1984) earned the award as well for Bethune-Cookman, while Booker Reese (1981) combined to make this the fifth Player of the Year award in school history.

Also joining McCullough on the All-MEAC Team is safety Bobbie Williams. Williams ended the year with two interceptions and a team second-best 77 tackles. He also had two tackles-for-loss, as well as four pass breakups. Williams is making his third appearance on the All-MEAC in his four-year career, and his third in a row.

A-Back/kick returner Corey Council, a junior from Valdosta, Ga., slid onto the All-MEAC Second Team as a return specialist. Council collected two kickoff returns for touchdown this year, including a school top-five longest 98-yard return against South Carolina State. In fact, in his two plays on defense--the first of his career at B-CU, Council picked off a pass and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown.

Council went on to return another kickoff for touchdown on a 90-yard return against Hampton. That tied for the most touchdown returns on kickoffs in recent years with R. Ricky Williams back in 2005.

This year's MEAC Offensive Player of the Year was Chad Simpson from Morgan State. Simpson was a bruising running back that led the league in rushing yards with 1,402 with three MEAC Offensive Player of the Week accolades.

James Lee of South Carolina State earned the Offensive Lineman of the Year award, while Florida A&M's Phillip Sylvester collected Rookie of the Year honors.

There was a tough choice for the coaches in the league at Coach of the Year, but third-year head coach Pete Adrian of Norfolk State University earned the nod after leading the Spartans to their best conference record since moving to Division I back in 1997. They finished the 2007 campaign with an 8-3 overall record, and a mark of 6-2 in the league.

For more information on the All-MEAC Team (First and Second), please locate your internet browser to www.MEACsports.com, or call the MEAC Office at (757) 416-7100.