CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Coastal Carolina wide receiver Jerome Simpson and Gardner-Webb defensive end Brian Johnston have been voted as the League’s 2007 Preseason Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, by the Conference’s coaches, SIDs and media panel, it was announced today as part of the 2007 Big South Conference Football Kickoff Media Luncheon at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Concord, N.C.

Simpson, who received 11 first-place votes and 26 total points, was a second-team All-America last season by the Associated Press and Weekly Football Gazette, and a third-team honoree from The Sports Network.  Simpson set a Big South single-season record in 2006 with 1,077 receiving yards and 16 touchdown receptions, helping the Chanticleers to their third consecutive League title and the school’s and Conference’s first-ever berth in the national playoffs.  He has been selected as a preseason All-American by Lindy’s College Football Preview and Street & Smith’s, and is Lindy’s choice as the Big South’s Offensive Player of the Year.

Rated No. 2 among all FCS wide receivers entering 2007 by The Sports Network, Simpson is currently second in Big South annals with 2,023 receiving yards, while also ranking eighth in career receptions (120) and first in career touchdown receptions (33).  He caught a touchdown pass in his final eight games (12 total) last year and caught a TD in all but one contest.  The first wide receiver to be selected as the League’s top preseason offensive player, Simpson needs 406 receiving yards to become the Big South’s career leader in that category.

Johnston received 10 first-place votes and 28 points to repeat as the League’s Defensive Player of the Year.  The senior earned second-team All-American honors from the Associated Press a year ago, and was Weekly Football Gazette’s Central Region Defensive Lineman of the Year in 2006.  He recorded 77 total tackles (35 solo), 14.0 TFL (minus-53 yards), 7.5 sacks (minus-47 yards), two forced fumbles and a career-high 23 quarterback pressures last year, and currently ranks No. 9 in Gardner-Webb history in career tackles for loss and No. 10 in career sacks.  He also has been officially nominated for the East-West Shrine Game and the Senior Bowl.

Rated No. 4 among all FCS defensive ends entering 2007 by The Sports Network, Johnston is one of 27 college football players named to the 2007 Ted Hendricks Defensive End of the Year Award Preseason Watch List, awarded annually to the top defensive end in college football.  Johnston is the only student-athlete from a Football Championship Subdivision program named to the watch list, as players from a host of BCS programs comprise the other spots.  In addition to being a candidate for the Hendricks Award, Johnston has been tabbed a preseason All-American by Street & Smith’s and Lindy’s.

Liberty running back Rashad Jennings finished second in the offensive voting with 21 points (six first-place votes).  Gardner-Webb wide receiver Duvaughn Flagler rounded out the voting with 12 points (three first-place votes).  On defense, Charleston Southern linebacker Jada Ross was second with 27 points and tied Johnston with 10 first-place votes.  Liberty linebacker Stevie Ray Lloyd received five points to complete the defensive voting.

Simpson and Johnston were also voted to the preseason All-Conference team.  The preseason team is comprised of 28 total players (12 offensive, 12 defensive, four special teams).  Big South favorite Liberty placed a League-high 11 on the preseason squad -- the second-most preseason selections in Big South history -- and became the first team to have an honoree at each position on offense and defense.   Gardner-Webb was second to Liberty with eight selections, followed by Charleston Southern (6), Coastal Carolina (2) and VMI (1).  The 2007 preseason All-Conference team appears on the following page:

2007 Big South Football Preseason All-Conference Team

OFFENSE
QB - Brock Smith, Liberty, Jr. (Hershey, Pa.)
RB - Rashad Jennings, Liberty, Jr. (Forest, Va.)
RB - Zach Terrell, Liberty, Jr. (Manasses Park, Va.)
WR - Jerome Simpson, Coastal Carolina, Sr. (Reidsville, N.C.)
WR - Duvaughn Flagler, Gardner-Webb, Sr. (Norcross, Ga.)
WR - Brandon Turner, Liberty, Sr. (Gretna, Va.)
TE - Chris Luck, Liberty, Sr. (Montvale, Va.)
OL - Stephen Sene, Liberty, R-Sr. (Columbia, S.C.)
OL - Demario Deese, Gardner-Webb, Jr. (Charlotte, N.C.)
OL - Rick Howell, Charleston Southern, Sr. (Satellite Beach, Fla.)
OL - Robert Brown, VMI, Sr. (Mesquite, Texas)
OL - Eddie Pinigis, Liberty, R-Sr. (Forest, Va.)

DEFENSE
DL - Brian Johnston, Gardner-Webb, Sr. (San Diego, Calif.)
DL - Dennis Justiniani, Charleston Southern, Sr. (Huntington Beach, Calif.)
DL - Adrain Grady, Coastal Carolina, R-Sr. (Leland, N.C.)
DL - Steven Ackley, Liberty, R-Sr. (Columbia, Tenn.)
LB - Mario E. Brown, Gardner-Webb, Jr. (Greenville, S.C.)
LB - Jada Ross, Charleston Southern, Sr. (Summerville, S.C.)
LB - Stevie Ray Lloyd, Liberty, R-Sr. (Lynchburg, Va.)
LB - Mike Pavelko, Gardner-Webb, Jr. (Eden Prairie, Minn.)
DB - C.J. Hirschman, Charleston Southern, Sr. (Jacksonville, Fla.)
DB - Daniel Cooke, Gardner-Webb, Jr. (Charlotte, N.C.)
DB - Ryan Greiser, Liberty, Jr. (Quakertown, Pa.)
DB - Okeba Rollinson, Charleston Southern, R-Jr. (Gastonia, N.C.)

SPECIAL TEAMS
PK - Nick Ellis, Charleston Southern, Sr. (Stockbridge, Ga.)
P - Michael Hanna, Gardner-Webb, Jr. (Lawrenceville, Ga.)
LS - David McCarthy, Gardner-Webb, Jr. (Irmo, S.C.)
RS - Wynton Jackson, Liberty, R-Sr. (Jacksonville, Fla.)

PRESEASON OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jerome Simpson, WR, Sr., Coastal Carolina

PRESEASON DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Brian Johnston, DE, Sr., Gardner-Webb

PREDICTED ORDER OF FINISH (points)
1.  Liberty (87)
2.  Coastal Carolina (79)
3.  Gardner-Webb (63)
4.  Charleston Southern (43)
5.  VMI (28)