NEW YORK—Villanova led all BIG EAST schools with a record total of 370 student-athletes named to the All-Academic Team which was announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon. The total of 370 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.
 
Monday 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 fifth straight year that Villanova has had over 300 student-athletes earn a spot on the All-Academic Team and it is also the fifth 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 3.637 GPA during the Spring 2020 semester, while every varsity sports program posted a team GPA above a 3.3 for the first time ever. The student-athlete GPA of 3.637 marked the 34^th straight semester spanning 17 academic years in which the Athletic Department has had a GPA of 3.0 or higher, as well as the 11^th semester in a row with a GPA of at least 3.2. More than 88 percent of the Wildcats student-athletes were named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll (3.2+ semester GPA) for Spring 2020, including 78 student-athletes who had a perfect 4.0 GPA for the semester.
 
Despite a shortened year of competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Villanova nevertheless won five BIG EAST titles in 2019-20. The men's cross country team was the Wildcats first conference champion of the year with a conference title in the fall, while both the men's and women's teams qualified for the NCAA Championships. The men's basketball team won a share of the BIG EAST regular season title, while women's swimming & diving and the men's and women's indoor track & field teams each continued their runs of BIG EAST dominance. Women's swimming & diving has won each of the last seven BIG EAST crowns, while the indoor track & field teams have each won three straight conference championships. Villanova has won a total of 40 regular season and postseason conference titles over the last seven years.
 
Earlier this year, the Wildcats were one of 10 schools in Division I to have at least 13 of its sport programs recognized by the NCAA with public recognition awards for having a multi-year Academic Progress Rate (APR) score of 1000. Each of Villanova's sport programs posted a multi-year APR score that was above the overall national average, while men's basketball was the lone BIG EAST program in its sport to have a 1000 multi-year score.
 
The announcement of the BIG EAST All-Academic Team is the second in a series of three academic award releases from the conference office. Last week the women's swimming & diving team was recognized by the conference as a Team Academic Excellence award winner. Next Monday the BIG EAST will announce its individual Scholar-Athlete Excellence Award winners.