BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (www.NCCUEaglePride.com) – Lindy’s Sports has announced North Carolina Central University senior linebacker Donald Laster as the NCAA Division I-FCS Independent Preseason Defensive Player of the Year in its 2010 college football preview magazine.

Laster, a 6-0, 238-pound native of Shaker Heights, Ohio, earned the preseason honor after posting solid all-round statistics during his junior campaign in 2009. Laster was the team’s second-leading defender with 63 total tackles, including 10.0 hits for a loss with a team-high 5.5 sacks. The linebacker also topped the squad with a remarkable total of 13 quarterback hurries, nine more than the next best Eagle. He added an interception, two pass break-ups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery as a starter in all 11 games.

“He lays it on the line every single play,” NCCU head football coach Mose Rison said of Laster. “He has been a great student and a tremendous leader. The players look up to him. I told him, ‘You need to come back selfish. You want all of the sacks. You want all of the tackles.’ I expect him to play lights out.”

In his best outing last season, Laster amassed a game-high 12 tackles with a takedown behind the line of scrimmage and a pass deflection against nationally-ranked Liberty University on Sept. 12. The linebacker ended the season by spending nearly the entire afternoon in the offensive backfield of Savannah State University, recording 11 stops, including 2.5 tackles for a loss with 1.5 sacks, along with five quarterback hurries.

As a sophomore linebacker in 2008, Laster also led the Eagles with 6.0 sacks and six quarterback hurries, while adding 40 total tackles with 9.5 hits for a loss.

Laster played on the defensive line in his first year at NCCU, collecting 48 tackles in 2007.

Lindy’s Sports annual publication named Old Dominion quarterback Thomas DeMarco as the FCS Independent Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. The ODU Monarchs will visit NCCU on Nov. 20 at 2 p.m.