April 17, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Senior golfer Brad Smith continues to add hardware to an already outstanding 2007-08 campaign. The Adelaide, South Australia native has been selected to the Conference USA All-Academic team, announced the league office on Thursday.

Smith is a two-time C-USA Golfer of the Week selection as the only Blazer to compete in every tournament this season. He enters this weekend's Conference USA Championship ranked No. 66 in the nation, which is his highest ranking of his career. He also ranks second on the team with a 71.90 per round stroke average.

Last season, Smith was named the 2007 Conference USA Newcomer of the Year and tied for 12th place at the C-USA Championship to help his team to a second-place finish. A two-time member of the C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll with a 3.25 GPA as a communication studies management major, Smith has ranked as high as No. 66 nationally by Golfweek.

Smith was joined on the league's all-academic team by five other golfers from around the conference. East Carolina teammates Tripp Brizendine and Markus Leandersson, Memphis junior Brad Benjamin, Rice sophomore Michael Buttacavoli and UTEP senior Zac Hildenbrand all joined Smith on the recognition.

These six and many other outstanding student-athletes are gearing up for the 2008 Conference USA Men's Golf Championship, which will be held April 20-22. This year's 54-hole event is being hosted at the par 72, 6,935-yard Texarkana Country Club in Texarkana, Ark.

2008 CONFERENCE USA MEN'S GOLF ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM
Name School Class GPA Major

Tripp Brizendine East Carolina Sophomore 3.77 Economics

Markus Leandersson East Carolina Junior 4.00 Finance

*Brad Benjamin Memphis Junior 3.82 Business Finance

Michael Buttacavoli Rice Sophomore 3.87 Economic Analysis

Zac Hildenbrand UTEP Senior 3.77 Chemistry