I Am So Smart! S-M-R-T!

by Run Up The Score on Nov 26, 2008 11:23 AM EST in Football Comment 13 comments

Having seen a school record 10 Nittany Lions earn first team All-Big Ten honors on Monday, Penn State has landed a program record five players on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team, with four earning first team honors.

Senior tackle Gerald Cadogan (Portsmouth, Ohio), junior linebacker Josh Hull (Millheim), junior kick snapper Andrew Pitz (Bettendorf, Iowa) and senior safety Mark Rubin (Amherst, N.Y.) earned first team accolades. Sophomore guard Stefen Wisniewski (Bridgeville) was a second team choice. Cadogan is a two-time first team honoree.

Penn State's four first team selections and five overall selections led the nation. Brigham Young, Dayton and North Dakota State were the only other schools with more than two honorees. Penn State is the first school to have five Academic All-America football players since Nebraska in 1997.

The Nittany Lions were the only Big Ten Conference team with more than one Academic All-American. The five Academic All-America selections give Penn State 43 all-time, with 41 under Coach Joe Paterno. Twenty-seven Nittany Lions have earned first team Academic All-America honors a total of 31 times under Paterno. The Nittany Lions' total of 43 Academic All-America football players ranks third among all Division I-A institutions.

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Always nice to have some good off-season publicity, isn't it?

by Run Up The Score on Nov 26, 2008 11:25 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

yep, sure can't wait for ESPN's OTL piece on these guys

wait…what is that? This isn’t a sensational and inflammatory news story, and therefore of little interest to the worldwide leader in sports? Oh…well sorry to bother you, then.

by The JuggerNitt on Nov 26, 2008 12:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

THAT is what i love to read,

good for them, that’s great

by nittanyroar on Nov 26, 2008 11:45 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Our team does really well on the field and really well in the classroom. This is one of the great legacies of JoePa, generally recruiting ~~-and winning with~~- solid, well-rounded individuals. We should really be proud of these players and our team for their accomplishments both on and off the field. Whoever our next coach is after JoePa, I hope he continues that tradition of all-around excellence.

Let's Go State!

by Gopher Broke on Nov 26, 2008 11:46 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Oops

Didn’t mean for that strikethrough to be there. Didn’t know that two dashes would do that, but I guess that’s what I get for not hitting “preview” before “post”

Let's Go State!

by Gopher Broke on Nov 26, 2008 11:47 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

NERRRRRRRRRRDS

by psuphiman80 on Nov 26, 2008 11:53 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

What's the stat?

The only schools with a 75% winning percentage and a 75% graduation rate the last four(?) years were Penn State and Boston College.

Or something like that. Not sure how far back that stat goes, but the percentages and schools are correct.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Nov 26, 2008 11:56 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

There is not nearly enough recognition for this

The most impressive thing that Paterno’s done hasn’t been his long career, hasn’t been his national championships or undefeated seasons.

It’s been building a powerful, successful football program while not detracting at all from the academics of the university.

It’s the one thing I’m most worried about when Paterno leaves. It’s the one thing I’m most proud of Penn State for.

by Bleed Blue 'n White on Nov 26, 2008 4:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

agreed

which was one of the things that bugged me most about the smearfest that was the OTL piece: they implied JoePa lowered his standards and gave up on his ’Grand Experiment" in order to win football games.

by The JuggerNitt on Nov 26, 2008 6:10 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

and the worst thing about that...

The worst thing about that is the entire point of the implication is wrong. Accepting kids who have problems doesn’t lower a coach’s standards. That’s giving a kid a chance.

Not kicking the kid off the team (even when 3 of your best receivers are all graduating!) – that would be lowering his standards. And I don’t see Chris Bell on the team.

by Bleed Blue 'n White on Nov 26, 2008 6:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

indeed

and as Kevin pointed out in You Can’t Take the Effect and Make it the Cause it isn’t even like we were recruiting a different breed of player, and most (all) of the players who had issues were also offered scholarships by other supposedly “high standards” teams.

by The JuggerNitt on Nov 26, 2008 7:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

We played Dungeons & Dragons for three hours!

Then I was killed by an elf.

by Wlvrn99 on Nov 26, 2008 12:15 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

This is something to be very proud of

I always look forward to seeing the football player graduation rates, with PSU near the top almost every year.
Let’s hope the Grand Experiment will continue to be PSU’s focus even after Joe’s gone.

On a related note: Penn State women’s volleyball senior middle hitter Christa Harmotto has been named the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year.

Looking forward to ESPN’s big piece on the smart athletes at Penn State (but not holding my breath…)

by NJ lion on Nov 26, 2008 9:07 PM EST reply actions 0 recs