ASU's Aplin Named SBC Student-Athlete of the Year
By: Jason Snavely
Updated: May 22, 2012
The
Sun Belt Conference announced Tuesday that Arkansas
State quarterback Ryan Aplin has been named the league's 2011-12 Male
Student-Athlete of the Year, marking the second time over the last three
years an ASU student-athlete has received the conference's most
prestigious annual honor.
Aplin
is one of several student-athletes from across the Sun Belt Conference
being honored for their academic and athletic achievements at a banquet
being held tonight during the league's annual spring meetings in Destin,
Fla.
"This
is a tremendous and well-deserved honor for Ryan, and we are thrilled
for
him and our University that he is being recognized with the top award
given by the Sun Belt Conference," said ASU Director of Athletics Dr.
Dean Lee. "Ryan has been a model student-athlete on the field and in
the classroom and community, and we are extremely
proud of how he represents our athletic department."
The
Tampa, Fla., native has consistently been a member of the ASU Athletic
Director's
Honor Roll, is a Sun Belt Conference Commissioner's List member and is
on pace to graduate in December with his bachelor's degree in Exercise
Science.
Aplin
was a First Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection and named the
league's
Player of the Year in 2011 after leading A-State to an undefeated
football conference championship and the GoDaddy.com Bowl as a junior,
making him just the third non-senior to ever earn the SBC's Male
Student-Athlete of the Year honor.
ASU
is also now one of just five schools to have multiple student-athletes
receive
the award, joining UALR, WKU, Denver and Middle Tennessee. Former
A-State defensive end Alex Carrington, a four-year football letterman
from 2006-09, was named the conference's Male Student-Athlete of the
Year in 2010 as well.
Aplin
will enter his senior season with 16 school records to his credit,
including
eight season, five single-game and three career marks that stand atop
the most successful in ASU history. In just three seasons, Aplin has
set the school records for career completions (633), completion
percentage (.630) and total yards per game (256.9).
He is currently second all-time at ASU in career total offense (8,734),
total plays (1,367) and passing yards (7,416), third in passing
touchdowns (43) and pass attempts (1,004), fourth in yards per play
(6.4) and fifth in rushing touchdowns (25). Additionally,
he is the Sun Belt Conference's fourth all-time leader in total offense,
completions and passing yards.
He
is a two-time First Team All-Sun Belt choice, a five-time Sun Belt
Conference
Player of the Week selection and has twice been named the Little Rock
Touchdown Club Player of the Year for Arkansas State University. Aplin
was on the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) National
Quarterback of the Year Watch List in 2011 and was named
to CollegeFootballNews.com's Sophomore All-America Team following the
2010 campaign.
Last
year alone, Aplin broke his own single-season school records for total
offense
(4,176 yards), total offense per game (321.2 ypg), pass completions
(304), passing yards (3,588) and passing yards per game (276.0). He put
up impressive numbers that were among the best in the nation, ranking
No. 10 in the country in total offense, No. 14
in passing yards, No. 20 in completions per game (23.38) and No. 33 in
points responsible for (13.85 ppg).
The
2011 campaign also saw Aplin rank No. 1 in the SBC in total offense and
total
passing yards, No. 2 in pass efficiency, No. 4 in scoring (TDs), No. 7
in scoring and No. 9 in rushing yards. He became one of just two
players in the history of the league to record over 3,000 yards total
offense in two different seasons (2011 and 2010).
Aplin ranked No. 2 in Sun Belt history in single-season total offense,
No. 4 in touchdowns responsible for (29) and No. 5 in passing yards.
