June 21, 2012

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Two Notre Dame student-athletes received Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America citations during the 2011-12 academic year, helping the Irish stay among the leaders in the nation in honorees.

The selection process for Academic All-Americans is conducted annually by the Collegiate Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Teams are named in baseball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, football, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, softball, men’s track/cross country, women’s track/cross country and women’s volleyball, with men’s and women’s at-large teams being named for other sports.

Notre Dame currently stands second all-time with 223 Academic All-Americans, trailing only Nebraska’s 299, but well ahead of third-place Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s 189 honorees. Since 2000, Notre Dame’s 97 selections is second only to Nebraska’s 112 selections.

In addition, Notre Dame ranks in the top-10 in several sports for number of honorees. The Irish have had more Academic All-Americans than any other school in baseball and women’s soccer, while also cracking the top-10 in men’s at-large (third), men’s basketball (tied for eighth), football (third), softball (tied for sixth), and men’s track/cross country (tied for ninth).

Notre Dame had a pair of honorees in 2011-12: Andrew Hills (men’s track & field) and Manti Te’o (football).

Hills, the individual champion in the hammer throw at the 2012 BIG EAST Outdoor Championships with a throw of 190-05 feet and advanced to the NCAA East Preliminary Round in the event, graduated in May with a 3.81 grade point average in mathematics.

A three-time member of the BIG EAST Academic All-Star and three-time participant in the Rosenthal Leadership Academy, Hills was named to the Dean’s List five times and was the 2011-12 Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award winner for track and field.

Te’o has a 3.37 cumulative grade-point average as a design major. He was a finalist for the Butkus Award this past season, presented to college football’s top linebacker, and the Lott Trophy, given to the top defensive player who also excelled in the classroom and in the community.

The junior from Laie, Hawaii, leads the Irish with 128 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss and four and a half sacks. Te’o was the 10th player in Notre Dame history to record 300 career tackles and he currently ranks eighth in school history with 324 career stops.

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 received sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Total Academic All-America Selections
1. University of Nebraska 299
2. University of Notre Dame 223
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 189
4. Penn State University 175
5. Stanford University 174
6. Augustana College (Ill.) 139
7. Emory University 132
8. Nebraska Wesleyan University 129
9. University of Texas 124
10. University of Florida 123


Division I
1. University of Nebraska 299
2. University of Notre Dame 223
3. Penn State University 175
4. Stanford University 174
5. University of Texas 124
6. University of Florida 123
7. Bucknell University 122
8. UCLA 113
8. University of Georgia 113
8. University of Oklahoma 113


Most AAA Selections since 2000
1. University of Nebraska 112
2. University of Notre Dame 97
3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 92
4. Emory University 91
5. Penn State University 81
6. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 78
6. Stanford 78
8. University of Alabama 70
9. Nebraska Wesleyan 66
10. Calvin College 65


Men's At-Large
1. Emory University 41
2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology 40
3. University of Notre Dame 33
4. Stanford University 32
5. University of Nebraska 31
6. Minnesota, University of 27
6. Johns Hopkins University 27
8. Penn State University 26
9. Augustana College (Ill.) 25
9. Kenyon College 25

Baseball
1. Notre Dame 29
2. Bucknell University 28
3. Wichita State University 27
4. Illinois Wesleyan University 25
5. Mississippi State University 23
6. Delta State University 22
6. Johns Hopkins University 22
8. Western Michigan University 19
8. University of Nebraska 19
8. Rose Hulman Institute of Technology 19


Men's Basketball
1. Illinois Wesleyan University 24
2. UCLA 20
2. University of Kansas 20
4. Indiana University 18
4. Duke University 18
6. Millikin University 15
6. Northwestern University 15
8. Gonzaga University 14
8. Brigham Young University 14
8. University of Notre Dame 14


Football
1. University of Nebraska 102
2. Penn State University 60
3. University of Notre Dame 56
4. University of Dayton 52
5. The Ohio State University 49
5. University of Oklahoma 49
7. Stanford University 43
7. Carnegie Mellon University 43
9. Nebraska Wesleyan University 40
10. University of Texas 36

Women's Soccer
1. University of Notre Dame 16
2. University of North Carolina 15
3. University of Portland 12
3. Penn State University 12
5. Stanford University 10
6. Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte) 9
6. U.S. Naval Academy 9
8. Ohio Northern University 8
8. Franklin Pierce University 8
8. North Dakota State University 8
8. Oklahoma City University 8
8. Johns Hopkins University 8

Softball
1. University of Nebraska 29
2. Southern Illinois University-Carbondale 23
3. Florida Southern College 21
4. Illinois Wesleyan University 19
4. The College of New Jersey 19
6. DePaul University 18
6. Fresno State 18
6. University of Notre Dame 18
9. Northern Illinois University 17
9. University of Tennessee 17


Men's Track/Cross Country
1. Adams State College 18
2. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 17
2. University of Nebraska 17
2. Augustana College (Ill.) 17
5. Rice University 16
5. Calvin College 16
7. University of Oregon 15
8. Nebraska Wesleyan University 14
9. University of Notre Dame 13
9. University of Wisconsin 13
9. Florida State University 13