View List of Players Competing in NCAA Men's Basketball Postseason (Highlighted in Boldface) (.pdf)TOWSON, Md. – Senior forward Brett Winkelman of North Dakota State University, the 2008-09 Men's Basketball ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® of the Year, is one of four Academic All-America® men’s basketball players who will be participating in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament this week.
While Winkelman and the Summit League champion Bison will be making their first appearance in March Madness, senior Alex Ruoff will lead West Virginia University into the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five years. Winkelman and Ruoff were both named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® first team.
In addition, sophomore forward Matt Howard, a second team Academic All-America® choice, has helped Butler University earn an at-large berth while senior Greg Paulus of Duke, a third team Academic All-America® pick, helped the Blue Devils win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and earn a number two seed in the East regional.
An Industrial Engineering and Management major with a 3.88 Grade Point Average, Winkelman has been named to the Academic All-America team the last three years. The only repeat selection on the first team, he is a three-year starter for the Bison. The second-leading scorer for the Bison with an 18.7 average, he is also averaging 7.4 rebounds per game with a team-leading .505 field goal percentage.
The second-leading scorer and rebounder in school history, he has 1,947 points in his career with 862 rebounds. Named first team All-Summit League the last two years, he was named to the all-tournament team at the Summit League Tournament after helping the Bison earn their first NCAA Tournament appearance with a 66-64 win over Oakland in the championship game. North Dakota State earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament in its first year of eligibility.
A native of Morris, Minn., Winkelman was named as the Summit League Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2008. He has also earned Commissioner’s List of Excellence and All-Academic Team accolades for his academic achievement. He is a member of the NDSU and Summit League SAAC groups and is currently serving as the Vice President of the NDSU group.
The Bison, who are seeded 14th in the Midwest regional, take a 26-6 overall record and a seven-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament. North Dakota State will face defending national champion Kansas in the first round of the tournament in Minneapolis on Friday, March 20.
A History major with a 3.79 G.P.A., Ruoff is a three-year starter in the backcourt at West Virginia. An honorable mention All-BIG EAST selection as a senior, he was named as the BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row and was also named as the winner of the BIG EAST Sportsmanship Award.
A native of Spring Hill, Fla., he became the 42nd player in WVU history to score 1,000 career points. A third team Academic All-America® choice as a junior, he is the Mountaineers’ second-leading scorer with a 15.9 average. An outstanding three-point shooter, he holds the school record with 260 career three-point baskets. Ruoff, who also leads WVU with 3.6 assists per game and an .811 free throw percentage, is the Mountaineers’ lone senior and has helped them post a 23-10 record. Seeded sixth in the Midwest region, West Virginia will face Dayton on Friday, March 20 in Minneapolis.
Honored as the Horizon League Player of the Year, Howard is a Finance major with a 3.72 G.P.A. A second team Academic All-America® pick, he averages 14.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. He also leads the Horizon League with a .548 field goal percentage. Howard, who was also named first team All-Horizon League and earned a spot on the Horizon League All-Defensive team, helped Butler post a 26-5 record. The Bulldogs, who were nationally-ranked for most of the season, were upset by Cleveland State in the Horizon League championship game by 57-54. The Bulldogs, who will be making their straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, are seeded ninth in the South region. Butler will face eight-seeded Louisiana State on Thursday in Greensboro, N.C.
A Political Science major with a 3.35 G.P.A., Paulus had been a standout in the backcourt for Duke for the last four years. An outstanding three-point shooter, he has scored nearly 1,200 points in his career. A third team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection as a junior, the Syracuse, N.Y. native helped the Blue Devils win their first ACC Tournament championship since 2006.
One of the Blue Devils’ senior leaders, he averaged 5.1 points per game with a 1.4 rebounding mark. He is also averaging 1.3 assists per game. Making its 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, Duke is seeded second in the East region and will face Binghamton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 19 in Greensboro, N.C.
Two members of the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® College Division men’s basketball team have led their schools deep into post-season play.
Senior Kyle Goldcamp, a second team Academic All-America® pick, has led Gannon University to a 29-3 record and a berth in the NCAA Division II regional finals. A Pre-Med major with a 3.87 G.P.A., Goldcamp is the Knights’ leading scorer with a 19.0 average. He also leads Gannon with a 9.0 rebounding mark and a .594 field goal percentage.
Junior forward Cameron Smith has helped Washington (Mo.) post a 27-2 record and earn a berth in the NCAA Division III Final Four. This is the Bears’ third straight trip to the Final Four. A third team Academic All-America® College Division pick, Smith has a 4.0 G.P.A. with a major in Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering. A native of Noblesville, Indiana, Smith is averaging 5.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game for the defending national champions.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 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.
ESPN The Magazine – winner of the 2006 and 2003 National Magazine Award for General Excellence – is a provocative and innovative sports publication. Full of insight, analysis, impact and wit, the oversized biweekly with a circulation of 1.9 million looks ahead to give fans a unique perspective on the world of sports.
For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit
www.cosida.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Dan O’Connell
Academic All-America ® Vice-Chair For Publicity/Communications
Towson University
(
doconnell@towson.edu)
(410) 704-3102
Geoff Hassard
Academic All-America ® Coordinator of Publicity
SUNY at Oneonta
(
hassargj@oneonta.edu)
(607) 436-2106