Click for Complete List of 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Men's Basketball TeamNOTRE DAME, Ind. – Senior guard Adam Emmenecker of Drake University and senior forward Troy Ruths of Washington University (Mo.) head the 2008
ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America® Men’s Basketball Teams, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Emmenecker was named the Academic All-American® of the Year for the University Division while Ruths received the same honor for the College Division for the second consecutive year.
A product of Saginaw Mich., Emmenecker owns a 3.97 grade point average and has four majors: management, business, finance and entrepreneurial management. He has led nationally ranked Drake to a 24-3 record and its first Missouri Valley Conference title since 1971. The Bulldogs’ 24 wins are two away from the school record set by the 1968-69 squad (26-5) that advanced to the NCAA Final Four.
"This is a tremendous honor,” stated Emmenecker. “A lot of people don't get the opportunity to be in a position to combine academics and athletics and Drake has allowed me to do both successfully. This award is a testament to the accomplishments we have achieved on and off the court this season."
A starter in all 27 games, Emmenecker is averaging 7.4 points per game; 10.1 ppg in conference play. He leads the MVC with 162 assists, and leads Drake with 47 steals and an 80.6 free throw shooting percentage. He is second on the team in field goal percentage (49.6), but is shooting a team-best 51.1 from the floor in MVC contests.
Emmenecker is a two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week selection (Jan. 9, Jan. 22) and also earned MVC Player of the Week honors Jan. 21.
Emmenecker was joined on the the 2008
ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America® First Team by D.J. Augustin (Texas), Justin Hare (Belmont), Jack Leasure (Coastal Carolina) and Brett Winkelman (North Dakota State). Hare, Leasure and Winkelman all earned second team accolades in 2007. In addition, A.J. Graves (Butler University), Joe Reitz and Mike Schachtner (Wisconsin-Green Bay) are repeat members from the 2007 squad.
Ruths, who was named the Academic All-American® of the Year for the second straight year, is also making his third appearance on the Academic All-America® team as he was selected to the first team last year and to the second team in 2006. The Sugar Land, Texas, native has helped the fourth-ranked Bears to an 18-4 record and a first-place standing in the University Athletic Association. He has averaged 18.7 points and 6.8 rebounds this season and has scored in double figures in 82 of his last 84 games.
“I couldn't have been more proud when I learned of the Academic All-American of the Year distinction,” said Ruths, a 4.00 computer science major. “For me, as a senior, I see this as a culmination of all my work in the classroom and on the basketball court. I wish I could say I accomplished this all on my own, but that just wouldn't be true. I have received a lot of support from my team, my coaches, my professors, and my family. The recognition of this award only underlines the importance that their guidance, support, and encouragement has had on my athletic and academic life.
Ruths, who was a preseason All-America pick on three different teams this season, ranks second on the Washington University all-time scoring list with 1,579 points. He’s averaged 15.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in his playing career. Ruths ranks third in school history in free throws (395), sixth in field goals (592), blocks (131) and rebounds (657).
In addition to Ruths, Jimmy Bartolotta (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Eric Bieniasz (St. Norbert College), Steve Dagastino (College of Saint Rose), Chris Pendleton (Southern Virginia University) were named to the first team. Dagastino was also selected to the first team in 2007.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.
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For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit
www.cosida.com or e-mail
rlipe@bentley.edu.