Three Mercer Soccer Players Named NSCAA Men’s Scholar All-South Region Honorable Mention

MACON, Ga. (MERCER RELEASE) – Seniors Joey Heavner and Ryan King and junior Ashani Samuels were all named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Scholar All-South Region Honorable Mention team earlier this week.

Heavner boats a 3.77 GPA as a business major, King finished with a 3.62 GPA as an engineering major and Samuels currently has a 3.32 GPA as an engineering major.

The trio joined East Tennessee State’s Itode Fubara as the only Atlantic Sun Conference players recognized on any of the NSCAA Scholar All-Region teams.

King and Heavner are no strangers to the NSCAA Scholar All-Region squads as King was named an Honorable Mention selection in 2012 and Heavner collected the same honor following the 2011 season.

For Heavner, this most recent NSCAA honor is the latest major academic honor for the standout four-year defender. The Landisville, Pa. native was also named the A-Sun Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was voted a Capital One Academic All-District 4 first team selection. Heavner finished his career as the all-time leader in assists in Mercer program history and the all-time leader for games started in a career in A-Sun Conference history.

King finished his four-year career with the Bears in style, as he was named to both the A-Sun All-Conference second team and the A-Sun Conference All-Academic team for the second year in a row. For his career, the Norcross, Ga. native finished with 33 points on 10 goals and 13 assists.

Samuels had another solid campaign as the heart of the Mercer defense and was voted onto the A-Sun All-Conference first team for the second-straight season. The West Moreland, Jamaica native had three points on a goal and an assist this season and will be back in Macon to captain the Bears defense as a senior next fall.