All- A total of 64 Auburn student-athletes have been named to the 2011-2012 Southeastern Conference First-Year Academic Honor Roll to rank as third in the league, announced Thursday, July 12, by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive.
Baseball- Sophomore centerfielder Ryan Tella has turned down the San Francisco Giants as an 11th-round selection in the MLB draft. Tella was voted Second Team All-SEC by the league’s coaches. He led Auburn and was fourth in the SEC with a .360 batting average. He also ranked among the conference leaders in slugging percentage (.508, 11th), on base percentage (.448, sixth), hits (85, fourth), triples ( four, tied-fifth), total bases (120, seventh), walks (35, tied-eighth) and stolen bases (17, tied-third). In league-only games, Tella placed seventh in batting average (.333), tied for third in hits (41) and tied for fifth in stolen bases (six).
Men’s Basketball- Former forward Kenny Gabriel played for the Sacramento Kings in the NBA’s Las Vegas Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center and Cox Pavilion. The Kings played five games, which were all televised on NBA TV in seven days.
Football- The first SEC BeachFest will be held Aug 23-26, 2012, along the Alabama Gulf Coast in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach. National Championship winning SEC coaches Gene Chizik, Nick Saban, and Les Miles will be in attendance to rally SEC fans one last time before the 2012 season kickoff. Retired coach appearances include Pat Dye of Auburn, Gene Stallings of The University of Alabama, Vince Dooley of The University of Georgia and Phillip Fulmer of The University of Tennessee.
-Five Auburn players have been named to the 2012 SEC preseason Coaches All-SEC Team. Junior defensive end Corey Lemonier and senior tight end Philip Lutzenkirchen were selected for the first team. Senior wide receiver Emory Blake and junior punter Steven Clark were named to the second team. Senior linebacker Daren Bates was chosen for the third team.
-Five-star linebacker Reuben Foster from Auburn High School switched his commitment from Alabama to Auburn last Thursday, July 12. This brings Auburn’s total 2013 verbal commitments to 16, three of which are five-star recruits.
-Placekicker Cody Parkey is one of thirty players to make the 2012 Lou Groza College Place-Kicker Award watch list, presented by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission.
-Punter Steven Clark is one of 25 players to be named to the 2012 Ray Guy Award watch list, which honors the nation’s top collegiate punter.
-Lemonier is one of 84 players to be named to the 2012 Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list, which recognizes the nation’s best defensive player awarded by the Football Writers Association of America.
-Blake was named to the 2012 Bilentnikoff Award watch list, which recognizes the most outstanding receiver in college football.
-The Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association announced Lutzenkirchen as one of 117 nominees for the 2012 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. This award recognizes a select group of college football players committed to making a difference in their communities.
-Lutzenkirchen and Lemonier were also named to the 2012 Lombardi Award watch list. This award is given to the nation’s top lineman or linebacker.
-Auburn will face Mississippi State University in Starkville, Miss. at 11 a.m. on Sept. 8. The Tigers will play their first home game versus The University of Louisiana at Monroe at 11:21 a.m. on Sept. 15. The season kicks off versus Clemson in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta on Sept. 1 at 6 p.m.
Men’s Golf- Former golfer Jason Dufner has been named to the 156-man field for the 141st Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Anne’s in Lancashire, England. It runs July 19-22. Dufner has finished in the top five in the last three tournaments he has played, including a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Open. Dufner enters the Open Championship ranked third in the FedEx Cup and ranked seventh in the world.
Women’s Basketball- The women’s basketball team will travel to Australia Aug. 4-14 for a tour that includes stops in Cairns, Brisbane and Sydney. As part of the trip, the Tigers will play games against the Logan Thunder, Cairns Dolphins, Sydney Flames and Sutherland Sharks.
Softball- ESPN’s high school signee Lexi Davis was named ESPNHS National Player of the Year after posting a 33-1 record as a pitcher and leading Porter Ridge High School Indian Trail, N.C. to the Class 4A state championship. Davis was also named the Gatorade State Player of the Year in North Carolina after the 2012 spring season. She is one of seven incoming freshman that will begin their collegiate careers in the fall of 2012.
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