SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – To borrow a baseball phrase, Slippery Rock University senior offensive football center
Brandon Fusco finished "hit a grand slam" Tuesday when he was named to first-team All-America honors by D2football.com.
The first-team All-America honor was the fourth received by the 6-foot-4, 300-pound Cranberry Township native and Seneca Valley High School graduate and came on the heels of honors from the American Football Coaches Association, Daktronics and Don Hansen's Football Gazette.
The D2football.com honor also came three days after Fusco was the first player in Rock history to participate in the Under Armour Senior Bowl, the premier postseason all-star game for aspiring NFL players.
All the aforementined honors came in addition to Fusco's being named as the 2010 recipient of the Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year Award, the Dave Rimington Award as the top Division II center in the nation and as a member of the Associated Press Little All-America team for players at NCAA Division II and Division III and NAIA schools.
A first-team All-Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-West selection each of the last three seasons, Fusco earned 2010 first-team Preseason All-America honors from The Sporting News, Consensus Draft Services, D2Football.com and D2PRODAY.com.
Fusco will be the first Rock player ever to participate in the NFL Scouting Combine (Feb. 23 through March 1 in Indianapolis). He also earned invitations to participate in the Cactus Bowl, East/West Shrine and NFLPA postseason all-star games.
As of January 1, 2011, Fusco was ranked fifth among draft-eligible centers by cbssports.com and the only Division II player ranked in the top five draft prospects at any position. He was projected by cbssports.com to be a fifth- or sixth-round NFL draft pick.
To prepare for the NFL Combine, Fusco began training in early December at the IMG Performance Institute in Bradenton, Fla.