BOONE, N.C. ? Headlining a wide array of Appalachian State University football news to bring in the new year, linebacker Pierre Banks has been named one of six finalists for the eighth-annual NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association (FCS ADA) postgraduate scholarship. The designation comes in conjunction with the senior's inclusion on the 43-member FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team for the second-straight year.

Banks, who set an NCAA all-divisions record by playing in 61 games for Appalachian from 2004-08, received the honor after a career that embodied the term student-athlete. On the field, he was a first-team all-America selection in 2007, three-time all-Southern Conference performer, two-year team captain and finished his career with 373 total tackles, good for fifth all-time at ASU.

Off the field, Banks needed only three years to earn a bachelor's degree in communication - electronic media/broadcasting with a 3.24 grade point average and completed course work for a master's degree in educational media in a year-and-a-half. He carried a sterling 3.91 grade point average in graduate studies into the 2008 fall semester.

Banks has a one-in-three chance of receiving one of the FCS ADA's two $5,000 postgraduate scholarships, which will be presented at June's National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics convention in Orlando.

EDWARDS, LeGREE NAMED TO CSN'S FABULOUS 50 TEAM: ASU quarterback Armanti Edwards and defensive back Mark LeGree were tabbed by College Sporting News for its 2008 Fabulous 50 all-America team.

Edwards was named CSN's Offensive Player of the Year. The 2008 Walter Payton Award recipient and consensus first-team All-American finished the season with 2,902 passing yards, 941 rushing yards and a SoCon-record 41 touchdowns responsible for (30 passing, 11 rushing). He ranked second nationally with a 170.19 pass-efficiency rating, seventh with 3,843 yards of total offense and 58th in rushing. Additionally, he threw only two interceptions in 224 regular-season pass attempts, with a school-record string of 176 passes without an interception.

LeGree led the nation with 10 interceptions on the season. The sophomore's 10 INTs broke the 45-year-old school record of eight (Larry Harbin, 1963) and tied the SoCon record that hadn't been matched in 33 seasons. In addition, he ranked second in the SoCon and 10th nationally with 17 passes defended and finished fifth on the squad with 58 tackles, including three for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. He placed third in voting for the Buck Buchanan Award, which honors the nation's top FCS defensive player.

MOUNTAINEERS FINISH FIFTH IN BOTH MAJOR POLLS: Appalachian finished the 2008 season ranked No. 5 in national FCS polls conducted by The Sports Network (media) and American Football Coaches Association (coaches).

Combined with its No. 1 rankings following the 2005, ?06 and ?07 campaigns, ASU extended its school-record streak for consecutive top-five finishes to four. Prior to 2005, the Apps had finished in the top five a total of five times ? 1986 (No. 5), 1987 (No. 2), 1995 (No. 5), 2000 (No. 4) and 2001 (No. 4).

QB COACH SATTERFIELD TO TOLEDO: After 15 seasons at Appalachian as a player and coach, ASU quarterbacks coach Scott Satterfield has accepted a position as co-offensive coordinator at the University of Toledo.

Satterfield came to ASU as a player in 1992 and was a four-year letterwinner at quarterback, earning first-team all-SoCon recognition as a senior after amassing 2,110 yards of total offense and leading the Mountaineers to a perfect 11-0 regular season.

He returned to Appalachian as wide receivers coach in 1998 and served as running backs coach from 1999-2002 before taking the reins as QB coach in 2003. Thanks in large part to his play-calling and development of signal-callers Richie Williams and Edwards, ASU excelled offensively under his direction as quarterbacks coach, ranking among the nation's top 10 in the five major offensive categories (scoring, rushing, passing, pass efficiency and total offensive) 13 times over the past five seasons.