ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 1, 1997 TAG: 9703030102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
THE FORMER Laurel Park star is named the league's player of the year.
Old Dominion senior center Odell Hodge was named Friday as the Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball player of the year in balloting by the league's nine coaches and a media panel.
Hodge, a Martinsville resident (Laurel Park High School), was also the league's player of the year in 1993-94, as a sophomore. He sat out the 1994-95 season after reconstructive knee surgery. Hodge, the league's freshman of the year in '93, heads the CAA's all-conference team and also was named to the CAA all-defensive squad.
Mark Byington of Salem, a junior guard from UNC Wilmington, was selected to the CAA's five-man All-Academic team.
Entering ODU's quarterfinal game in the CAA tournament at the Richmond Coliseum today, Hodge leads the CAA in blocks (74) and field-goal percentage (.554), and is second in scoring (18.1 points) and rebounding (8.5). He is one of only three players in CAA history to record more than 2,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds.
UNC Wilmington's Jerry Wainwright was named coach of the year, the sixth different coach to win the honor in as many years. Wainwright guided the Seahawks (15-13 overall, 10-6 CAA) to a share of the regular-season title with ODU.
Richmond guard Marseilles Brown was the rookie of the year. Brown led CAA rookies with 31 3-pointers and broke into the Spiders' starting lineup late in the season.
Joining Hodge on the CAA's first team all-conference were forward Chatney Howard of James Madison, Virginia Commonwealth guard Patrick Lee, George Mason guard Nate Langley and Wilmington forward Bill Mayew. All are seniors except Howard, a junior.
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