Villanova Selections to the 2018-19 BIG EAST All-Academic Team

NEW YORK—Villanova led all BIG EAST schools with a record total of 342 student-athletes named to the All-Academic Team which was announced by the conference office on Tuesday afternoon.  For the second time in the last three years, the BIG EAST established a new record with a total of 2,938 honorees on the All-Academic Team.  The total of 342 student-athletes from the Wildcats is also the highest ever for any one school in a single academic year.  Villanova competes in the BIG EAST in 21 of its 24 varsity sports.   
 
Tuesday afternoon's release is the latest example of Wildcats student-athletes continuously establishing and surpassing lofty goals for academic achievement while competing at an elite level in athletic competition.  This is the fourth straight year that Villanova has had over 300 student-athletes earn a spot on the All-Academic Team and it is also the fourth year in a row that the Wildcats have topped the BIG EAST with the most All-Academic Team members.  Villanova was also the winner of the BIG EAST President's Cup for the 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2017-18 academic years for its excellence in academic, athletics and citizenship. 
 
Nominations for the All-Academic Team are submitted by each of the BIG EAST's 10 member and nine affiliate institutions.  To be eligible for the honor, a nominee must have competed in a BIG EAST-sponsored sport, attained a minimum grade-point average of 3.00 for the preceding academic year, and completed a minimum of two consecutive semesters or three consecutive quarters of academic work, with a total of 18 semester or 27 quarter credits, not including remedial courses.  Nominations are reviewed and approved by the BIG EAST Academic Affairs Committee.
 
Villanova student-athletes set a new athletics record with a 3.346 GPA during the Spring 2019 semester.  That figure marked the 32^nd straight semester spanning 16 academic years in which the Athletic Department has had a GPA of 3.0 or higher, as well as the ninth semester in a row with a GPA of at least 3.2.  More than 81 percent of student-athletes achieved a GPA of 3.0 or higher for the spring semester, while there were a record 402 honorees on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for having a semester GPA above a 3.2. 
 
Earlier this spring, the Wildcats were recognized for leading all Division I schools with the percentage of their teams (77 percent) that earned NCAA public recognition awards for having a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score that ranked within the top 10 percent of their sport nationwide.  Villanova also previously had student-athletes from the football, rowing and water polo teams named to the All-Academic Teams from their respective sports. 
 
During the 2018-19 academic year, the Wildcats won six BIG EAST titles while producing dozens of individual conference champions.  The women's cross country and track & field program celebrated its second straight BIG EAST "triple crown" by winning championships during the cross country, indoor and outdoor seasons.  The men's track & field team swept the indoor and outdoor conference titles, while the men's basketball team was both the regular season and BIG EAST Tournament champions.  Villanova has won a total of 35 regular season and postseason conference titles over the last six years.
 
The announcement of the BIG EAST All-Academic Team is the last in a series of academic award releases by the conference office.  Last week the men's tennis and women's swimming & diving teams were recognized as Team Academic Excellence award winners for having the highest GPA in their sport among conference teams.  Senior thrower Jack Judge from the men's track & field team was previously announced as the winner of a BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete Excellence Award for outdoor track & field.