RALEIGH, N.C. — Norfolk State senior guard Tony Murphy (Paterson, N.J.) was selected to the All-MEAC first team, the conference announced Monday night at its postseason awards banquet.

Murphy (6-4, 220) leads the Spartans and ranks fourth in the MEAC in scoring at 17.5 points per game. He also ranks among the MEAC leaders in steals (tied for first, 1.79 per game), free-throw percentage (fifth, 81.3 percent) and assists (12th, 2.5 per game). All of those numbers are career highs for Murphy, who has also made 64 3-pointers this season (fifth in the MEAC).

Murphy becomes the first Spartan ever to earn some form of All-MEAC recognition in all four of his seasons. He was an all-rookie team selection as a freshman in 2005, and earned second-team All-MEAC honors each of the last two seasons. He is NSU's first All-MEAC first team performer since MEAC Player of the Year Chakowby Hicks in 2005, and the sixth first-team selection in the program's history.

Earlier this season, Murphy became the all-time leading scorer in NSU's Division I history (since 1997-98). He currently stands seventh on the Spartans' all-time scoring list, with 1,766 points. Murphy is also the school career record-holder with 253 made 3-point field goals.

Murphy was joined on the first team by Morgan State's Jamar Smith and Boubacar Coly, Coppin State's Tywain McKee and Delaware State's Roy Bright. Smith was selected as MEAC Player of the Year and Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman was named Coach of the Year. Coly was named Defensive Player of the Year and South Carolina State's Carrio Bennett was named Rookie of the Year.

Murphy and the third-seeded Spartans (15-14, 11-5 MEAC) open play in the 2008 MEAC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday night at 6 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday's first-round game between No. 6 Florida A&M and No. 11 Maryland Eastern Shore.