Three Wabash players have been named to the 2011 D3football.com Preseason All-America Team. Junior Jonathon Koop was a First Team selection, while Weston Kitley and Wes Chamblee received Second Team honors.
Koop (right) was a 2010 First Team All-America pick by the national web site as a special teams/all-purpose player. The junior defensive back and graduate of AB Miller High School in Fontana, California, Koop scored four touchdowns off of blocked punts by the Wabash special teams unit to set a new school record for punt return touchdowns in a season. He was one touchdown return away from tying the NCAA Division III record of five in a single season. Koop was part of a Wabash special teams unit that tied the NCAA Division III single season mark for blocked kicks with 11.
Kitley (number 61 in photo left), a junior offensive lineman from Indianapolis Roncalli High School, earned D3football.com Honorable Mention All-America honors in 2010 — his first season as a starter for the Little Giants. A First Team All-North Coast Athletic Conference selection, he started all 10 games at left tackle for Wabash and helped the offense to second in the NCAC in rushing offense (152.8 ypg), passing offense (245.1 ypg), total offense (397.90 ypg), and scoring offense (33.8 ppg). Kitley and the rest of his offensive line mates allowed an average of two sacks per game to rank fourth in the conference.
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Chamblee (right) will be back on the Wabash squad after missing nearly the entire 2010 season. A First Team All-NCAC return specialist and D3football.com Honorable Mention All-America pick in 2009, he caught one pass for a 72-yard touchdown in the 2010 season-opening game for Wabash before a knee injury sidelined him for the rest of the year. Chamblee finished his junior year with 11 punt returns for an average of 17.6 yards per return to lead all Division III players through the regular season. He scored on an 86-yard punt return at Allegheny. He also caught 60 passes for 778 yards and six TDs in 2009.
Wabash opens the 2011 season on September 10 at the College of Wooster. The Little Giants were 8-2 and 5-1 in NCAC games in 2010.
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