At some point, Jordan Anderson might be able to gauge the response to his selection as a Rhodes Scholarship winner.

That was a little difficult Saturday.

Well-wishers trying to get in touch with Anderson by cellphone were quickly shifted to voice mail.

With all of the other issues spinning inside his head, Anderson had neglected to take his phone charger to Birmingham, Ala.

"I thought I had it charged," said Anderson, an Auburn senior from Roanoke.

"Maybe the battery charge runs down in proportion to the calls you're getting."

At least Anderson didn't have to worry about his phone interrupting a 20-minute interview with committee members, the final step before Anderson learned of his selection around 4 p.m. Central time.

"Honestly, I was very surprised that I won," said Anderson, who has a 3.91 grade-point average at Auburn, where he is a co-captain of the men's swimming team.

Anderson, who will have a two-year scholarship at Oxford University in England, is the first Rhodes Scholar from Auburn in more than 20 years and the first from the Roanoke Valley since Salem's Brad Braxton in 1991.

Anderson only began contemplating the scholarship, which looks for candidates who excel in the classroom, athletics and citizenship, after meeting with Dr. Paul Harris, director of Auburn's prestigious national scholarships programs.

Anderson, who hopes to become a dentist, was looking for scholarship options in that field.

Instead, his dental future will be on hold while he pursues a master's degree in global health science.

Anderson was one of 12 finalists invited to Birmingham, Ala., from a region that encompasses Florida, Tennessee and Alabama.

The proceedings began with a dinner Friday night.

"I actually think the dinner was more influential than the interview," Anderson said.

"It was a time to mingle with committee members and the other finalists. I think they were looking to see how you expressed yourself."

Anderson found the process more relaxing than he had imagined. He had been going through mock interviews at Auburn for two weeks.

"I didn't think I had much of a chance and that may have helped me," Anderson said.

"Just to be a finalist was one of my goals. Anything beyond that was incredible.

"I'm still in complete shock."

Most of the questions in Anderson's interview Saturday pertained to research he conducted over the summer for a paper on organic chemistry.

Anderson, a Hidden Valley High School graduate, came out of the same region that produced 2008 Rhodes Scholarship winner Myron Rolle.

Rolle, a defensive back at Florida State, hopped a plane after his Rhodes Scholarship interview and arrived in time to play in the second half of a football game FSU was playing at Maryland that night.

Anderson had no such plans after Saturday's announcement. Auburn had a swim meet with Georgia on Friday night, but his celebrations will be short-lived.

"I took today and yesterday off," said Anderson, a butterfly specialist who finished sixth this summer in a nationals field that included Olympic hero Michael Phelps.

"I'll be heading back into training tomorrow."