DENTON, Texas – North Texas sophomore forward Tony Mitchell once again led the Sun Belt in blocked shots and earned his second career All-SBC selection the league announced on Wednesday.

Mitchell, a Preseason All-American, added a second-team All-Sun Belt nod to his resume that already included first-team selection and the 2012 Sun Belt Freshman of the Year award. An All-Sun Belt Tournament team member last year, Mitchell and his Mean Green teammates have won four of their last six games heading into Friday’s SBC Tourney opening-round showdown against Louisiana-Lafayette at 6:30 p.m.

“Tony is one of the elite players in our league,” said North Texas head coach Tony Benford. “With the injuries we had to our perimeter players so early on this year, I don’t think everyone got the chance to see what Tony can do because teams were able to sag their defense in on him. On the defensive end of the floor, Tony leads the league in blocks and changes the way teams operate, and I think he’s the best defender in the Sun Belt. At the same time, I have a ton of respect for the great players that were selected to these accolades by the coaches and media of our league.”

Due entirely to Mitchell’s lane presence, NT held opponents to 44.1 percent shooting inside the 3-point arc this year, which is the lowest in the conference. Mitchell leads the league and ranks 19th in the country with 2.7 blocks per game, and his career 2.83 blocks per game ranks third in the country amongst all active players with at least 50 games played.

He Broke the NT single-season (83) and career (153) blocks record this season, and posted multi-block games in 27 of the 31 contests this year, including four-plus blocks in nine games. On the rebounding front, Mitchell ranks fourth in the SBC and 79th in the NCAA with 8.4 boards per game.

2013 All-Sun Belt Conference Teams

Player of the Year
Augustine Rubit, South Alabama

Defensive Player of the Year
Bruce Massey, Middle Tennessee

Freshman of the Year
Shawn Long, Louisiana-Lafayette

Coach of the Year
Kermit Davis, Middle Tennessee

First Team All-Sun Belt Conference
Greg Gantt (Florida Atlantic, Sr., Guard)
Tymell Murphy (FIU, Jr., Forward)
Elfrid Payton (Louisiana-Lafayette, So., Guard)
Marcos Knight (Middle Tennessee, Sr., Guard)
Augustine Rubit (South Alabama, Jr., Forward)

Second Team All-Sun Belt Conference
Brandon Peterson (Arkansas State, Sr., Forward)
Stefan Moody (Florida Atlantic, Fr., Guard)
Shawn Long (Louisiana-Lafayette, Fr., Forward)
Tony Mitchell (North Texas, So., Forward)
T.J. Price (WKU, So., Guard)

Third Team All-Sun Belt Conference
Will Neighbour (UALR, Jr., Forward)
Trey Finn (Arkansas State, Sr., Guard) 
Raymond Cintron (Middle Tennessee, Sr., Guard)
Bruce Massey (Middle Tennessee, Sr., Guard)
George Fant (WKU, So., Forward)