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Quote:DeKALB, Ill. - Northern Illinois strong safety Alex Kube (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) was named a first team Freshman All-American by The Sporting News Friday continuing a tradition of freshman All-America honorees for the Huskies. Kube led NIU with 111 tackles, the second-highest total in the nation by a freshman in 2007.

Kube's honor marks the third consecutive season in which a Huskie has earned a first team nod, joining center Eddie Adamski (2006) and linebacker Tim McCarthy (2005). Northern Illinois has had a player on The Sporting News' Freshman All-America squad for five straight seasons beginning with Doug Free in 2003 and Chris Nendick in 2004.

During the 2007 season, Kube became the first freshman to lead NIU in tackles in 31 years, since Frank Lewandoski in 1976. He averaged 10.09 tackles per game to rank seventh in the Mid-American Conference and place among the nation's top 30.

Kube played in 11 games with nine starts at strong safety and racked up seven double-digit tackle efforts to go with three pass break ups, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and 0.5 tackles for loss. His season-high tackle performance came in a start at Navy when he collected 15 stops, the highest total by a Huskie player during the year.