NEW YORK, N.Y. – Slippery Rock University senior offensive center Brandon Fusco added first-team Associated Press Little All-America to his list of honors Thursday.

The AP Little All-America team honors the top NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA football players in the nation.

Fusco, a 6-foot-5, 305-pound native of Cranberry Township and graduate of Seneca Valley High School, was one of two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference student athletes included on the first team. Bloomsburg's Franklyn Quiteh, the leading NCAA D-II rusher in the nation, joined him on that elite list. East Stroudsburg University linebacker Matt Freed, a third-team selection, was the only other PSAC student athlete honored by AP.

The AP honor was the fourth received by Fusco in the span of five days. He was named last Monday as the 2010 recipient of the Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year Award. He then received first-team Daktronics and American Football Coaches Association All-America honors on back-to-back days.

By virtue of being named as the Upshaw Aware winner, Fusco earned an invitation to participate in both the Jan. 22, 2011, East-West Shrine (Orlando, Fla.) and Feb. 5 NFLPA Game (San Antonio, Texas) postseason all-star games.

Last week, Fusco received an invitation to play in the Cactus Bowl, Division II all-star game Jan. 7, 2011 in Kingsville, Texas.

Fusco is also on the watch list for the Jan. 29 Senior Bowl all-star game in Mobile, Ala. His chances for earning that invitation are enhanced by the fact he is ranked fourth among NFL Draft-eligible centers in the nation by CBSSports.com and is the only Division II player ranked in the top five draft prospects at any position. Fusco is projected to be a fifth-round NFL draft pick.

Fusco earned first-team Preseason All-America honors last summer from The Sporting News, Consensus Draft Services, D2Football.com and D2PRODAY.com. Hde also received first-team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division honors for the third consecutive season.

A year ago, in addition to being named to first-team all-conference status, Fusco received second-team All-America postseason honors from Don Hansen's Football Gazette, first-team all-region honors from the Football Gazette and Daktronics Inc. and finished third in the Super Region One Upshaw Award voting.

A third-team Football Gazette all-region selection as a sophomore in 2008, Fusco served two seasons (2009 and 2010) as a Rock team captain and was the team's 2009 Offensive MVP. He was in the starting lineup for all 44 Rock games since 2007, a rare accomplishment, especially for an offensive lineman.

This fall, Fusco was the foundation of a Rock offensive line that opened holes for redshirt sophomore running back Akeem Satterfield, the No. 1 scorer/No. 2 rusher in the PSAC and the No. 3 scorer/No. 5 rusher in the nation.