Dec. 9, 2003
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State freshman running back Lynell Hamilton picked up his fourth major award of the postseason on Tuesday when he was named to The Sporting News Freshman All-America first team.
Hamilton, whose season ended prematurely due to a broken ankle in the 10th game, completed the year with 1,087 yards and is No. 17 nationally with an average of 108 rushing yards per game. The Stockton Edison High School product finished second in the Mountain West in rushing and third in the league in all-purpose yards.
Previously, Hamilton had been named to the Rivals.com Freshman All-America first-team. He was also named Mountain West Conference freshman of the year and became just the second freshman in MWC history named first-team all-conference.
Hamilton's freshman season was the most successful by an Aztec rookie since Marshall Faulk. He opened the year with 113 rushing yards in his debut against Eastern Washington, becoming the first Aztec freshman to rush for more than 100 yards in a season opener. His best games of the season included a 220-yard effort against Samford and 218 rushing yards in the win over Wyoming. In fact, SDSU was 5-0 when Hamilton ran for at least 90 yards. He had 94 yards in the game against UNLV when his season was ended due to the injury.