Sun Belt Announces 2016 Preseason Football All-Conference Teams

NEW ORLEANS – The Sun Belt Conference announced Friday its 2016 Preseason All-Sun Belt Football Team and individual awards, chosen by the 11 head coaches and selected media representatives.
 
Texas State senior offensive tackle Ryan Melton and senior punter Lumi Kaba were named Second-Team selections.  A native of Liberty, Texas, Melton will lead Texas State’s offensive line after recording 58 pancake blocks and giving up just two sacks in 2015 when he was chosen an All-SBC Third-Team choice by Phil Steele. Melton enters the 2016 season having made 24 consecutive starts.
 
Kaba is a native of Tyler, Texas, and ranked third among Sun Belt punting leaders last season after averaging 44.3 yards on 65 punts.  He had 20 punts of 50 yards or more last year and placed 20 punts inside the 20.
 
The honorees include 36 seniors between the two teams comprised of 53 total student-athletes. There were 17 seniors, eight juniors and one sophomore on the first team while the second team had 19 seniors and eight juniors.
 
New Mexico State’s Larry Rose III was chosen as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year while Appalachian State’s John Law was selected as the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year.
 
Rose played in and started all 12 games last season for the Aggies and ended the 2015 campaign as the Sun Belt’s Offensive Player of the Year. He was selected to the Associated Press All-America Third Team after leading the league with 1,651 years on 240 attempts. He also scored 14 touchdowns in 2015 which was second amongst running backs in the Sun Belt. His 1,000-plus yard effort in 2015 marked the first time since 1998 that the Aggies have had a runner rush for over 1,000-yards in back-to-back seasons.
Rose’s yardage pushed him to No. 6 all-time on the single season rushing list in Sun Belt history. He finished the season with 1,934 all-purpose yards.
 
Law is the heart and soul of the Mountaineer defense that finished first in the Sun Belt in scoring defense with 19.1 points and 314.5 yards allowed per game last season. Appalachian State was picked as the favorite to win the league title in 2016.
 
Law was second on the Mountaineer defense with 72 stops and four sacks in 2015. Law currently ranks third among active Mountaineers with six career interceptions. He is the Mountaineers team leader and was a team captain in 2015.
 
Law was a preseason selection in 2015 and was named to the All-Sun Belt First Team in 2015.
 
Arkansas State led all teams with 12 total selections on the preseason All-Sun Belt First and Second Teams. The Mountaineers and Georgia Southern each placed four on the first team. UL Lafayette had a total of seven between the two teams, one on the first team and six on the second team. The Mountaineers finished with six total selections between the two teams.
 
The Sun Belt football media day will be held in New Orleans on July 25. The event will be broadcast live from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. CT on the Sun Belt Digital Network. ESPN3 will broadcast live from media day from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m. CT. Live content will also be available on the Sun Belt website and social media platforms.
2016 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Football Teams
 
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Larry Rose III (New Mexico State, RB, Jr., Communications)
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: John Law (Appalachian State, LB, Sr., Health Promotion)
* – named to 2015 Preseason Teams
^ – named to 2015 All-Sun Belt First Team
# – named to 2015 All-Sun Belt Second Team
! – named to 2015 All-Sun Belt Honorable Mention Team