ASU linebacker heads up SBC's preseason defense

Arkansas State linebacker Qushaun Lee was named the Sun Belt Conference’s preseason defensive player of year and was one of four Red Wolves to be selected to the league’s first-team defense.
Arkansas State linebacker Qushaun Lee was named the Sun Belt Conference’s preseason defensive player of year and was one of four Red Wolves to be selected to the league’s first-team defense.

Arkansas State has been led to the top of the Sun Belt Conference the past three seasons by offensive-minded head coaches, but it was the Red Wolves' defense that headlined the league's preseason awards announced Monday.

ASU linebacker Qushaun Lee was voted the preseason defensive player of the year and named to the All-Sun Belt first team, where he was joined by defensive end Chris Stone, cornerback Rocky Hayes and safety Sterling Young.

The Red Wolves' four first-team defensive selections were more than any other school, and they had 10 players take up 11 spots on the first and second teams that were selected by league coaches and selected members of the media.

Lee, a junior from Prattville, Ala., was a first-team All-Sun Belt selection last year after leading the conference with 134 tackles and an average of 10.3 per game.

Joining Lee will be Stone, a junior defensive end, Hayes, a junior cornerback, and Young, a senior safety, on a Red Wolves defense that returns 10 players with starting experience. Other ASU defensive players recognized Monday were senior defensive lineman Dexter Blackmon and senior cornerback Artez Brown, who were each named to the second team.

Junior J.D. McKissic was named to the first team as a wide receiver and kick-returner. McKissic led the Sun Belt by averaging 30.0 yards per kick return last season with one touchdown, and he caught 81 passes for 650 yards and 4 touchdowns. McKissic's average of 121.2 all-purpose yards per game last year are the most among returning conference players.

McKissic and Young will join Coach Blake Anderson today as ASU's representatives at the Sun Belt Conference media day at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Red Wolves running back Michael Gordon, tight end Darion Griswold and right tackle Colton Jackson were chosen to the second team.

Louisiana-Lafayette and ASU shared the Sun Belt title last season and were tabbed as the conference's top two teams heading into this season, with Louisiana-Lafayette picked to win the conference. They also split the preseason player of the year awards.

Ragin' Cajuns quarterback Terrance Broadway was named preseason offensive player of the year after leading his team to a share of the league title and a victory in the New Orleans Bowl last season. Broadway helped the Cajuns average 33.8 points per game a year ago, and his average of 201.6 passing yards per game and 19 touchdowns in 2013 were most among the league's returning quarterbacks.

Louisiana-Monroe offensive tackle Joseph Treadwell, a Pine Bluff High School graduate, and safety Mitch Lane, who went to Watson Chapel, were named to the second team.

Sports on 07/22/2014

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