With the abundance of postseason awards and events occurring at this time in the fall semester, it is easy to forget the athletes sporting Wisconsin’s cardinal and white are also students.
Nevertheless, the Big Ten released its official list of the Academic All-Big Ten honorees Wednesday, reminding us of all the hard work these student-athletes do in the classroom in addition to their play on the field.
In all, the Big Ten recognized 977 total fall sports student-athletes who were letterwinners in at least their second academic year and carry a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
Of those 1,023, 60 of them were Badgers, with 26 coming from the football team, seven each from men’s and women’s cross country, 11 from men’s soccer, seven from women’s soccer and two coming from volleyball.
Among the notable UW student-athletes being honored, starting quarterback Joel Stave leads the way. He has been honored in each of his four years of eligibility, as he looks to earn his degree in civil engineering.
Among other notable football players to earn Academic All-Big Ten honors for the fourth time are fullback Derek Watt (marketing), offensive lineman Tyler Marz (educational leadership and political analysis) and wide receiver Jordan Frederick (finance, investment and banking)
Standout men’s soccer sophomore midfielder Mike Catalano (finance, investment and banking), along with volleyball standout Lauren Carlini (retail) and Haleigh Nelson (marketing) are among other high-profile names to earn the honors.
The number of Wisconsin student-athletes honored Wednesday is up from the 58 recognized at the end of the 2014 fall semester.
