South Dakota State football players Dalton Cox and Wes Genant were named Thursday to the 2017 CoSIDA Academic All-America Division I Football Team. Selections were determined by a vote among members of the College Sports Information Directors of America.
A junior linebacker from Aberdeen, Cox earned a spot on the second team with a perfect 4.0 grade-point average as an economics and entrepreneurial studies major. On the field, Cox has started eight games and ranks fourth on the team with 56 tackles.
Genant, a sophomore offensive lineman from Parkston, also received second-team recognition by compiling a 3.97 GPA in biochemistry. Genant has started all 13 games this season at right guard as part of an offensive unit that is averaging 38.8 points and 444.2 yards of total offense per contest.
A total of 50 players – 25 on each the first and second teams – from Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision teams were selected by position for the honor squad.
SDSU has had at least two players honored on the CoSIDA Academic All-America Team five seasons in a row and 10 of the last 12 seasons. Jackrabbit football student-athletes have been recognized as Academic All-Americans 24 times in the Division I era (since 2004) and 38 times in the program’s history.
JACKRABBIT FOOTBALL
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS
1974: Bob Gissler (2); Dan Somsen (2)
1975: Bill Matthews (1); Bob Gissler (2)
1977: Bill Matthews (1)
1978: Paul Kippley (2)
1979: Tony Harris (1); Paul Kippley (1)
1980: Paul Kippley (2)
1987: Dan Sonnek (1)
1991: Kevin Tetzlaff (2)
1994: Jake Hines (2); Adam Vinatieri (2)
2001: Josh Ranek (2)
2005: Mitch Klein (2)
2006: Cory Koenig (1); Parker Douglass (2)
2007: Cory Koenig (1); Parker Douglass (2)
2008: Kyle Minett (1); Kevin Robling (2)
2009: Kyle Minett (1); Conrad Kjerstad (2)
2010: Kyle Minett (1); Tyler Duffy (2)
2012: Zach Zenner (2)
2013: Jason Schneider (1); Zach Zenner (1)
2014: Nick Purcell (1); Jason Schneider (1); *Zach Zenner (1)
2015: Nick Mears (1); Shayne Gottlob (2); Jake Wieneke (2)
2016: Nick Mears (1); Jake Wieneke (1)
2017: Dalton Cox (2); Wes Genant (2)
Note: Number in parentheses indicates first or second team
*Selected as Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for Division I football
Photo from www.gojacks.com.
