Utah State Leads WAC in Academic All-Conference Honorees Once Again

For the fourth straight year, Utah State [University] has led the Western Athletic Conference in number of academic all-league honorees as the Aggies landed 181 student-athletes on the academic all-WAC teams in 2008-09. USU just completed its fourth season in the WAC as it joined the league in July, 2005.

 

Overall, it is the 10th time in the last 11 years that Utah State has had the most academic all-league honorees as it led the Big West Conference in 2000 and 2002-05. In 2001, the Aggies ranked second in the Big West in academic selections.

 

"We have high academic expectations for our student-athletes and having the most academic all-conference selections for the fourth straight year in the WAC shows they are meeting those expectations," said associate athletics director for student-athlete services Brian Evans. "This accolade is a testament to the emphasis the athletics department, coaches and students put toward academic achievement."

 

During 2008-09, Utah State had 181 student-athletes earn academic all-WAC honors to lead the league, while Boise State was second with 158, New Mexico State was third with 145, Idaho was fourth with 136 and Fresno State was fifth with 117. To qualify for the academic teams, student-athletes must post a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average and participate in at least 50 percent of the team's games.

 

Utah State's student-athletes traditionally rank among the best in the Western Athletic Conference with an 82 percent graduation success rate and a cumulative 3.04 grade-point average.

 

Additional Aggie sports news is available at the Athletics homepage Web site.