Tulsa’s McInnes Named C-USA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year

The following release was issued by the University of Tulsa:

Tulsa junior forward Ashley McInnes was selected as the Conference USA Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, as announced today by the league, while McInnes, Austin Neil, Joe Salem and Chris Taylor were all named to the Preseason All-C-USA team.

Tulsa, with four members on the team, was the best represented team in the league, while Kentucky, SMU and South Carolina each had two people named to the team, and UAB and UCF each had one honoree.  The selection is the vote of the nine C-USA head coaches.

A two-year letterwinner from Aberdeen, Scotland, McInnes was named the 2008 C-USA Player of the Year and picked up second-team all-league and all-tournament team honors last year.  He has started in 25 of 32 games in his career, and scored nine goals and 10 assists for 28 points.  McInnes was also named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List earlier this season.

Neil, a sophomore forward from Broken Arrow, Okla., started in 10 of 21 games as a true freshman and scored 11 goals and had four assists for 26 points.  He was voted the C-USA Freshman of the Year, and picked up all-C-USA second-team, all-freshman team and all-tournament team accolades.  Neil also received Top Drawer Soccer All-Rookie Squad and College Soccer News All-Freshmen team honors.

A three-year letterwinner from Akron, Ohio, Salem picked up C-USA first team honors and was named to the all-tournament team last year.  He has started 39 of 47 career games, and scored four goals and five assists for 13 points from his midfielder position.  Salem was also named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List earlier this season.

Taylor, a junior defender from Edmond, Okla., earned first-team all-league honors last season.  He has started all 43 games of his career, tallying six goals and six assists for 18 points.

Last Updated ( Friday, 21 August 2009 )