DESTIN, Fla. — The Sun Belt Conference announced Tuesday that Alex Carrington, a 4-year football letterman at Arkansas State from 2006-09, has been named the league’s 2009-10 Male Student-Athlete of the Year.
Carrington is the first ASU student-athlete to receive the conference’s most prestigious annual honor. He was among the Sun Belt athletes honored Tuesday night at a banquet that is part of the league’s annual spring meetings in Destin, Fla.
“We are thrilled for Alex to be honored and recognized with the top award given by the Sun Belt Conference,” ASU athletic director Dr. Dean Lee said. “His record, both academically and athletically, is well documented, and his character and integrity truly epitomize what you are looking for in a student-athlete. We are extremely proud of him and how he represents our athletic program.”
Head football coach Steve Roberts said Carrington made tremendous contributions in the classroom and community as well as on the field at ASU.
“We are very excited that he has received this outstanding honor, and that is a credit to his great character and the wonderful person that he is,” Roberts said. “Alex’s many achievements, both on the field and off, as a leader on our football team have made a significant impact on our program.”
Carrington, recently selected in the third round of the NFL draft by the Buffalo Bills, adds his most recent honor to a long list of accomplishments during a 5-year stay at ASU that began with his 2005 redshirt season and ended in last December when he graduated with his bachelor’s degree in psychology.
This past year, he was named first team All-Sun Belt, ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District VI, the Preseason SBC Defensive Player of the Year and the Little Rock Touchdown Club ASU Player of the Year. Additionally, he competed in the Senior Bowl and was named to the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, Lott Trophy Watch List, Lombardi Trophy Watch List and Ted Hendricks Award Watch List.
Carrington has consistently been a member of the Arkansas State University Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and the Sun Belt Conference Commissioner’s List or Academic Honor Roll. He twice received the team’s “I WILL” Award, issued to the player who best exemplifies the drive to succeed and do everything necessary to make not only himself, but those around him better. This award is given to a player for conduct, classroom efforts and preparing to win.
As a senior with the Red Wolves, Carrington had nine sacks. He also recorded a team-high 14.5 tackles for loss in 2009, which was the third most in the league. Carrington completed his career with 21.5 sacks for the second most by an Arkansas State football player and the fourth-highest total in Sun Belt history, while also piling up 40.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage and 146 total tackles during his career with the Red Wolves.
The Tupelo, Miss., native was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2008 after recording 53 tackles, 10.5 sacks and one interception. He tied for 14th in the nation in sacks and seventh in tackles for loss. His first of three consecutive all-conference seasons came in 2007 as a sophomore, when he recorded 38 tackles and five tackles for loss on an Arkansas State defense ranked No. 1 in the Sun Belt Conference.
The ASU athletic department will post a daily video interview (today through Friday) with Carrington on AStateRedWolves.com commemorating his time at Arkansas State. The interviews will touch on a variety of topics, including Carrington’s thoughts on receiving the Sun Belt Conference Student-Athlete of the Year Award and earning his degree, some of his favorite moments at ASU, and his first experiences as a member of the Buffalo Bills.