March 2, 2010
CHOUDRANT, La. - Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Dykes and the football coaching staff honored the Louisiana Tech football team for their achievements during the 2009 season on Monday night at the Squire Creek Country Club in Choudrant.
The night, which included dinner, awards presentations and season highlights, was emceed by Dykes and Acting Athletics Director Bruce Van De Velde.
Several awards were handed out during the evening, beginning with the letter winners for the 2009 season. In order to receive a letter, a student-athlete must have played in at least six games or been on the field for 80 plays.
Stan Eggen announced the team captains for the 2009 season, which were named at the end of the year. Picked by a vote of the players, the team captains for the 2009 season were Thomas Graham, Rob McGill and D'Anthony Smith.
Louisiana Tech President Dr. Dan Reneau was on hand to give out the President's Award, which is given to the student-athlete who excels in the three areas of academics, athletics and community involvement. Dr. Reneau honored D'Anthony Smith with the award with Ed Jackson receiving the trophy on Smith's behalf as Smith was, in Reneau's words, "...interviewing for a job with a company called the NFL."
Smith was also honored by Stan Eggan by being named the Defensive Player of the Year.
The coaching staff named a pair of Co-Offensive Players of the Year Monday, honoring Dennis Morris and Daniel Porter. Morris was the national leader among tight ends in receiving touchdowns and was among the national leaders in receiving yards and receptions. Porter etched his name into the Louisiana Tech record books with a school record 3,352 career running yards.
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Four student-athletes were honored by Student Success Specialist Missy Farrar for being named Academic All-Conference. Ross Jenkins, Solomon Randle, Chandler Spence and Stephen Warner all garnered the Academic All-Conference honors for the fall 2009 term.
All-WAC honorees were given their trophies by Dykes as Adrien Cole, D'Anthony Smith and Dennis Morris earned first team honors while Daniel Porter, Phillip Livas and Rob McGill garnered second team honors. Livas, Porter and Tank Calais were also recognized for being named the WAC Player of the Week at some point throughout the 2009 season.
The evening concluded with Dykes handing out the Senior Awards to the team's 12 seniors: D'Anthony Smith, Shawn Simmons, Daniel Porter, Deon Young, Antonio Baker, Brian White, Dustin Mitchell, Dennis Morris, Thomas Graham, Ben Harris, Adrian Logan and Kwame Jordan.
Dykes and the team is set to begin spring practice on Wednesday, March 17 with the T-Day Spring Game set for Saturday, April 10 at noon at Joe Aillet Stadium.
Fans can reserve their 2010 season tickets today by visiting LATechSports.com. The 2010 season features seven games in the state of Louisiana and six home games featuring five teams that went to bowl games in 2009.
For complete coverage of Bulldog Football, please visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.
