Cape Cod, MA --- In recognition of his record-setting performance this past weekend against Framingham State, senior Graham Asum (Marlboro, MA) has been selected as the ECAC Division III Northeast and the New England Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week.
Asum, who also copped D3Football.com Team of the Week accolades, returned a pair of kickoffs for 94 yard touchdowns to tie the single-game NCAA Division III record in a setback versus the NEFC Bogan Division Champion Rams.
On eight returns, Asum also finished with 333 yards – including a 61-yard burst that was nearly a third score – to set the national record for return yards in one contest.
Asum's outstanding day enabled him to reset a pair records that had stood for nearly 20 years. He broke the single-season mark with an eye-popping 952 yards and he eclipsed the career record with 2,098 yards.
The previous Division III New England seasonal standard of 767 yards had been held by Larry Overby of Western Connecticut (1992) and the NEFC career mark of 1,607 yards had been set by Bryan Ryder who played at Curry from 1988-91.
In the latest NCAA Division III rankings, Asum is second overall in kickoff return yardage and fifth in average (31.8 YPG). He is just 34 yards off the top spot nationally and 66 off of the Division III single-season record.
Asum has six kickoff returns for touchdowns to his credit for his career and four of them are 90-yards or more. He is currently the only player in Division III with three returns for scores on kickoffs and third among active players in career return yardage.
As a sophomore, Asum earned D3Football.com Team of the Week laurels for snatching four interceptions and finishing with 113 yards in a 30-18 win over Westfield State on September 25, 2010.
Ironically, the honor is also the last time a Worcester State student-athlete was recognized for an outstanding weekly performance by the ECAC.
The Lancers are currently 6-4 overall and finished the year 4-3 in NEFC Bogan Division play. They await word on a possible ECAC Bowl game bid as the selections will be announced on Sunday evening.