FULL LIST OF HONOREES
FARMINGTON, Utah (July 12, 2021) – The Big Sky Conference office has announced its 2020-21 All-Academic Teams for the league’s various sports typically played during the fall, but mostly played during the spring this season while navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Big Sky office will be announcing its Fall All-Academic Teams (Monday), Winter All-Academic Teams (Tuesday), Spring All-Academic Teams (Wednesday) and Scholar Athletes (Thursday) this week (July 12-15), honoring a large group of student-athletes for their academic success.
“Despite this having been a difficult time in so many ways, an incredible nearly 3,000 combined recipients (over two-thirds of the league) across the three sport seasons rose to the challenge in their classrooms to earn Big Sky All-Academic Team honors,” Commissioner Tom Wistrcill said. “These athletes deserve an enormous amount of credit for their success, and we are incredibly proud of each of them for thriving and persevering as students during the most unusual year of their academic career.”
For Fall Sports specifically, 1,131 student-athletes from the Big Sky’s 11 full-time member institutions and two affiliate football members were honored for their work in the classroom while being part of the school’s football, volleyball, soccer or cross country teams. There were 526 football representatives, 133 volleyball, 99 men’s cross country, 126 women’s cross country and 247 from women’s soccer.
For the 2020-21 season, and following changes voted on by the league’s Athletic Directors, a student-athlete must have met/or exceeded the following minimum requirements: 1) Be on an active roster for their institution; 2) Achieved a 3.2 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) at the conclusion of the most recently completed term; 3) Completed at least one academic term at his/her current Big Sky institution.
These requirements were adjusted from a standard model that included a minimum of playing time for the student-athlete, as well as the academic requirement. The change was made due to the unique nature of the 2020-21 athletic calendar and the challenges facing campuses both in the classroom and on the playing surface.