Ronnie Cameron - CAA Football Student-Athlete of the Year

Feb. 22, 2012

RICHMOND, Va. -- Old Dominion defensive lineman Ronnie Cameron (Westbury, N.Y.) was named the 2011 CAA Football Student-Athlete of the Year, headlining a list of 121 CAA Football Academic All-Conference honorees for the 2011 season.

Cameron maintained a 3.46 grade point average while working towards his Business Administration Master's in Information Technology. The Westbury, N.Y., native is a five-year journeyman in CAA Football after beginning his career at Hofstra. The Old Dominion Dean's List member earned All-America accolades from seven different publications in 2011, including first team honors from the AFCA, The Sports Network, and Beyond College Sports Network, as well as second team accolades from the AP and Phil Steele. Cameron finished his undergraduate degree in three years before graduating last December with his MBA.

The 2011 CAA Football Defensive Player of the Year ranked second on the Monarch squad with 73 tackles (28 solo, 45 assisted) to go with a team-leading 17 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. He averaged 5.6 tackles per game, which was fourth among defensive lineman in the CAA and finished second in the league in tackles for loss averaging 1.31 per contest.

He captured a career-high 11 tackles along with a season-best 3.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks against CAA Champion Towson. The senior helped the Monarchs to their first-ever Top-10 victory by making 10 stops with three for loss against James Madison.

A recipient of the Luke Hillier Endowment Scholarship for academic and athletic success
, while at Old Dominion Cameron took on full course load along with 20 hours of work per week while being an athlete. Away from the field and weight room, he worked for the Office of Computing Services and solved technology problems on campus and was also among the most active members of the team in community service. Among the many service projects he participated in included activities with the annual bone marrow drive, the ODU Special Olympics and the Make-A-Wish-Foundation, all which resulted in Cameron being among those nominated for the 2011 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team.

"Everyone in our program is proud of Ronnie Cameron," said Old Dominion head coach Bobby Wilder. "He has won the triple crown of post-season awards with CAA Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-American as a defensive lineman, and now the CAA Student-Athlete of the Year."

"As Ronnie said to me on the phone from New Jersey," continued Wilder, "the CAA Student-Athlete of the Year is the award he is most proud of. Ronnie has set the standard for the type of student-athletes we want to have in the Old Dominion football program."

Along with Cameron, fifteen members of the Old Dominion football squad were among the 121 student-athletes - 75 on offense and 46 on defense - cited as members of its 2011 Academic All-Conference team. Of the 11 members of the CAA Football Conference, only the University of New Hampshire had more student-athletes on the Academic All-Conference Team than the Monarchs.

Those Monarchs earning Academic All-Conference are:

To be eligible for the CAA Football Academic All-Conference Team, a player must be a starter or important reserve and have a cumulative GPA of 3.00-or-better (on a 4.00 scale) for his entire academic career. Transfers and first-year freshmen are eligible. Voting for the Student-Athlete of the Year honor is conducted by 11 CAA Football Communications personnel from the 2011 season.

The 2011 CAA Football Academic All-Conference Team can be seen here.