Mike Anello Earns Second-Team Academic All-America Honors

Nov. 24, 2009

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – ­ Notre Dame senior special teams stalwart Mike Anello has been named to the 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Football Team, it was announced Tuesday. Anello earned second-team accolades for the second consecutive year.

Anello (Orland Park, Ill.) gives the Irish football program 53 academic All-American honorees in program history, which ranks second best in the nation. He is the eighth player in Notre Dame football history to be selected on more than one occasion. The Irish have had 38 first-team selections, 14 second-team honorees and one honorable mention choice.

This academic year, Notre Dame has already had three student-athletes garner Academic All-America accolades. The Irish rank second all-time with 213 Academic All-Americans since the program’s inception in 1952. What’s more, 87 Notre Dame student-athletes have earned the Academic All-America distinction during the past decade, tops among any school in the country.

Anello, who graduated in 3.5 years and currently takes graduate level courses, earned a degree from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business in finance. He finished his undergraduate work with a 3.93 cumulative grade point average (GPA). Anello earned dean’s list recognition in each of his seven semesters at Notre Dame. He registered a perfect 4.0 GPA in his major courses and was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the business honors society.

Anello leads the Irish in punt return tackles (one), ranks tied for fourth in total special teams tackles (eight) and tied for fifth in kickoff return tackles (seven) this season.

Anello was also named one of 10 finalists for the Awards and Recognition Association (ARA) Sportsmanship Award. The ARA Sportsmanship Award is presented annually to an NCAA Division I college football player who exemplifies sportsmanship both on and off the field. The selection of the winner is made by a blue-ribbon panel comprised of retired coaches, ARA executives and members of the media who cover college sports.

Voting for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Team was conducted by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Committee. 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 the official CoSIDA web site at cosida.com, and for more on Notre Dame’s Academic All-America success, please visit the UND.com Academic All-Americans Page.

The Irish return to the gridiron this weekend at rival Stanford. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:12 ET on ABC.

ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America ® of the Year: Tim Tebow, University of Florida
* ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America ® 1st team in 2008
#ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America ® 1st team in 2007
** ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America ® 2nd team in 2008