AUSTIN, Texas - Junior linebacker Don Cherry (Trumbull, Conn.) was named a second team selection to the Capital One Academic All-America football team, as announced on Thursday afternoon. The first and second team honorees were voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Cherry has excelled on the field for Villanova this season as one of the team's top defensive performers. He also continues to generate an equally impressive list of accomplishments for his academic performance.

Cherry has already become the Wildcats first player in four years to reach triple digits in tackles for a season. Through the first 12 games of the year, Cherry has a team-high 112 tackles (68 solo, 44 assisted). Included in that total are 17.5 tackles for loss and nine quarterback sacks. His overall total of 112 tackles is tied for the 13th most by a Villanova player since 1985. Cherry ranks fourth in the CAA in both total tackles per game and tackles for loss per game.

In addition to his tackling stats, Cherry is leading the Wildcats with five forced fumbles on the year. He ranks second in the CAA and seventh in the entire nation with that total, and had a career-high two forced fumbles in a win over Rhode Island earlier in the season. Cherry also notched his first career fumble recovery in the regular season finale at Delaware, and had both an interception and two pass break-ups at Richmond.

Cherry was one of two players named the National Defensive Player of the Week on October 6 after he had 12 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss and three sacks, in a 41-20 victory at Maine. He also had a forced fumble and a pass breakup in the game. Two weeks later, Cherry had a career-high 16 tackles in a win at William & Mary. He has registered six games with at least 10 tackles on the year.

Last week when the CAA announced its postseason all-conference teams, Cherry was one of three Villanova players to earn first team recognition. He has played in 33 career games for the Wildcats and has registered 221 tackles, 30.0 tackles for loss, 10.0 sacks, six pass break-ups, five forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception.

Cherry was a member of the 2013-14 CAA All-Academic Team and was also chosen for the 2013 Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team. He is majoring in Communications.

Earlier this fall, Cherry and sophomore offensive lineman Jake Prus (Woodstown, N.J.) were voted onto the Capital One Academic All-District teams. To be eligible for that honor, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.3 or higher and also be a significant contributor to his or her team. The first team selections from each of the districts around the country move on to the national ballot for Academic All-America honors.

Since the 1972-73 academic year, Villanova has had 51 student-athletes earn Academic All-America recognition a total of 66 times. Of the 51 student-athletes, Cherry is the 11th from the football team to receive the honor. The most recent football Academic All-American was Raymond Ventrone during the 2003-04 academic year.