Rushing, Fletcher earn national honors

Published 12:00 am Thursday, March 7, 2002

Robert Rushing was named Atlantic Sun Conference Most Valuable Player and Ben Fletcher was named to the All-Junior College Team by a panel of coaches through Collegeinsider.com.

"This is a great honor for Robert and Ben to be recognized by the other coaches across America," Troy State head coach Don Maestri said.

"Robert was a very important part of our success this season and had a great career at Troy State. Ben came in and learned our system quickly.

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He came in and played beyond our expectations."

Rushing averaged 15.8 points per game this season and dished out a team-high 118 assists.

He became the fifth leading scorer in school history with 1,533 points and is the all-time leading scorer in TSU’s Division I history.

He also finished in the top 20 all-time in the A-Sun all-time scoring chart.

"Robert is one of the best players to ever come through Troy State," Maestri said.

"He has accomplished a lot in his four years here.

He’s rewritten the record books and became the first player in school history to win two conference titles."

Florida Atlantic’s Sidney Green was voted Coach of the Year and Thomas Terrell was elected Player of the Year. Fletcher, who transferred from Enterprise State (Ala.) Community College, stepped into the starting lineup immediately.

He started 27 of the Trojans’ 28 games and averaged 12.8 points per game.

He led the Trojans in three-pointers, hitting 68 treys, and hit 38.9 percent of his shots from behind the arc.

"Ben had a phenomenal season," Maestri said.

"He’s a great outside shooter and hit a lot of clutch shots in some big games.

We are excited about having Ben back next year."