Life has been good for LaAbrez (Tay) Barber, both academically and athletically.

The 6-foot-1 senior point guard recently received his business degree from the university for his work in the classroom, while his exploits on the court also garnered high praise.

Barber, who led the Running Eagles to a 21-12 overall record after averaging a team-leading 19.0 points and 4.39 assists per game, was named a National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) second-team all-American for the 2009-10 season. As a starter in all but one of Life's 31 games, he also shot 83 percent from the free-throw line and 45 percent from the floor while averaging 3.5 rebounds and 2.3 steals per contest.

Barber becomes the 14th NAIA All-American at Life University. Since 1991, the Running Eagles have had six players make the first team, and two on the third team. He is the sixth second-team selection, and Life has also had eight honorable mentions.

Barber, an NAIA honorable mention All-American candidate a season ago, was excited to hear about the award and gave much of the credit to his teammates and coaching staff for helping him grow into the player he has become.

"I just want to thank my teammates, the coaches and everybody at Life for getting to me to that point," Barber said. "If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have even been in that position. I'm just thankful to all of them for helping me."

As a transfer to Life from Chattanooga State Junior College, Barber was a key contributor in helping to resurrect the Running Eagles program which had been dormant since the end of the 2001-02 season. Barber chose Life because of its proximity to his home, as an Atlanta native that graduated from Southwest DeKalb High School in Decatur, and his familiarity with the program, which had won three national titles between 1997 and 2000.

"Tay was a terrific high school player in this area," said Life athletic director/head coach John Barrett. "When he decided to join us in '08 following his junior college season, he gave us instant credibility and helped to build back our program. It means a lot to us that he came here. To get a player of his magnitude to our program was big."

Barber's addition to the Running Eagles roster proved to be just what Life needed, as the Running Eagles have made consecutive trips to the NAIA national tournament since the program rejoined the league in 2008-09. As a junior, he averaged 18.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.8 steals per game, shot 46 percent from the floor and led the NAIA in assists with 7.06 per game.

Following his impressive senior campaign, Barber left an indelible mark on the program. He concluded the season as the Association of Independent Institutions Player of the Year, while setting three career records at Life, including all-time scoring average (19.0 ppg), free throw percentage (83.2 percent) and assists (5.8 apg).

In only two seasons, Barber is third on the career scoring list with 1,233 points and third on the assists list with 374. He also owns single season records for total assists (230), assists per game (6.9 apg) and is sixth all-time in total steals (167).

"I had Division I schools recruiting me out of Chattanooga State, but Life was where I wanted to be," Barber said. "God blessed me with talent to play basketball, so I expected to have a great career here. I didn't think, though, that I would finish with all of those records. I just wanted our team to win.

"I've always been confident in myself, so I'm happy, humbled and excited to be an all-American. This was a great situation to be in and I had great people help me out."

Barrett, who was an assistant coach on Life's three championship teams, was also singing Barber's praises following his stellar career.

"We've had some great guards over the years," he said. "Tay is as good a guard as we've ever had. He's a scorer, but he led the nation in assists as a junior, which is a testament to his unselfishness. He was a great leader who did what was needed and pushed his teammates."

Barber hopes to continue his basketball career in the professional ranks, perhaps playing overseas.

"I love basketball," he said. "Hopefully, I'll get to play it as a pro, if not in the NBA then overseas. The game has done a lot for me in my life, and has opened a lot of doors. I don't want that to end."