Salem, Va. - -
Emory & Henry’s Justin Call was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Men’s Basketball Player of the Year while
Virginia Wesleyan’s Brandon Adair was named Freshman of the Year. Guilford College Head Coach Tom
Palombo and E&H’s Bob Johnson were selected by their peers as Co-Coaches of the Year.
A senior guard, Call (Ronda, N.C./East Wilkes) was a two-time ODAC Player of the Week and was named to d3hoops.com Team
of the Week three times. He leads the conference and is ranked seventh nationally in scoring with 24.0
points per game. He also ranks 22nd in the country in free throw percentage, making good on
over 87% of his shots from the charity stripe. An all-around player for the Wasps, Call also averages 4.9
rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, while shooting nearly 40% from behind the three-point arc. Call
became the eighth individual in school history to score 1,500 career points and only the third individual to reach that milestone in only three
seasons.
Call was also named the
ODAC Men’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. This is the first year for this award. The award was created by the conference Sports Information Directors and is selected by that group. Each school in the league has an opportunity to nominate a player for this award and all nominees are reviewed
prior to selection. Each nominated player must have at least a 3.2 cumulative GPA and be a junior or
senior on campus. Call maintains a 3.744 GPA while double majoring in business and economics with a minor
in psychology. He was named a 2002-03 Third Team Verizon/CoSIDA Academic All-American and is a three-time
Academic All-ODAC honoree. Call is a member of the Sigma Mu National Honor Society while being named to
the Dean’s List all but one semester during his college career.
Virginia Wesleyan’s Brandon Adair (Virginia Beach, Va./Princess Anne) was selected as the Freshman of the Year. He is averaging 12.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game for the Marlins. Adair
is currently ranked second on the team in scoring, second in steals and tied for first in rebounding. His
56% field goal percentage is the third best for a first-year player in Virginia Wesleyan history. Adair
scored a season-high 23 points in a game versus Emory & Henry earlier this year.
First-year head coach Tom Palombo was named ODAC Co-Coach of the Year after leading the Quakers to a 15-10 overall record and an
11-7 conference mark entering the ODAC Tournament. Bob Johnson of Emory & Henry College was also
selected as Co-Coach of the Year after leading his Wasps to a 16-9 overall record and an 11-7 league mark. E&H
will enter the ODAC Tournament as the number-three seed.
A complete listing of the All-ODAC First and Second Teams can be found below:
Justin Call, Emory & Henry
Kurt Bergmann, Randolph-Macon
David Doino, Virginia Wesleyan
Jevon Clarke, Guilford
Ricky Easterling, Bridgewater
Kevinn Hunter, Roanoke
Jeff Monroe, Hampden-Sydney
Brandon Randall, Hampden-Sydney
Justin Wansley, Randolph-Macon
Peter Warren, Virginia Wesleyan
Player of the Year:
Justin Call, Emory & Henry
Freshman of the Year:
Brandon Adair, Virginia Wesleyan
Co-Coaches of the Year:
Tom Palombo, Guilford and Bob Johnson, Emory & Henry
Scholar-Athlete of the Year:
Justin Call, Emory & Henry