CLEVELAND - Three Illinois State players were selected as preseason All-Missouri Valley Football Conference selections Wednesday by Phil Steele in his annual College Football Preview, now available on newsstands. Seniors Eyad Salem and Geno Blow were first-team selections on offense, while junior Kelvyn Hemphill was named a first-team selection on defense.
Phil Steele's College Football Preview is one of the nation's most informative preseason football magazines and provides an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) preseason All-America teams as well as preseason FBS and FCS all-conference teams. Each of Phil Steele's regional magazines has coverage on local FCS conferences with the ACC/Big East Regional Magazine containing the entire FCS section.
Salem was a 2008 All-MVFC First Team selection after totaling 63 catches on the season, which tied for the fourth-most in school history. The Elgin, Ill., native led the team in receptions (63), receiving yards (843), touchdowns (8) and receiving yards per game (76.6) and ranked second in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in receptions per game (5.7) and receiving yards per game (76.6).
In addition, his 5.7 receptions per game tied for the 31st-most in the nation, while his 76.6 yards per game ranked as the 36th-most at the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level.
Blow, the league's leading active rusher with 1,574 career yards, ranked seventh in the Missouri Valley Football Conference with 78.2 rushing yards per game in 2008. The Seabrook, Texas, native finished the year with 704 rushing yards and was named the Valley Football Conference Offensive Player of the Week Sept. 14 after rushing for 96 yards and two touchdowns against Murray State. A 2007 All-Missouri Valley Football Conference Honorable Mention selection, Blow enters the 2009 season with seven career 100-yard rushing games, which is tied for fifth all-time at Illinois State.
Hemphill rounds out the group as one of four defensive backs listed as first-team selections. The 2008 All-Missouri Valley Football Conference Honorable Mention selection played and started in nine games and ranked second on the team with 79 tackles, including a team-high 41 solo efforts. The San Antonio, Texas, native missed the final two games of the season with an injury, but ended the season with six tackles-for-loss, a pass breakup and a forced fumble.
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