LEXINGTON, Ky. (BBN TONIGHT) — A school-record 12 University of Kentucky athletes were elected to the official Academic All-America teams from the College Sports Communicators (CSC) organization during the 2022-23 school year.
The 2022-23 Wildcats broke the previous school record of 10 Academic All-Americans set during the 2020-21 school year. Nine of the Wildcats earned the first-team designation, one was second-team, and two more were third-team. Former quarterback Will Levis was named the Academic All-American of the Year in football, signifying his status as the top student-athlete among all NCAA Division I football players.
Additional statistics include:
- UK’s total of 12 Academic All-Americans tied for fourth in the nation among the 363 Division I schools.
- This improves Kentucky’s all-time total to 143 Academic All-Americans, which ranks 18th all-time in Division I.
- UK has had 106 Academic All-Americans since 2000, 10th among Division I institutions during that time frame.
To qualify for Academic All-America, a student-athlete must have a career grade-point average of at least 3.5, be a sophomore or higher in academic and athletic standing, and be a starter or important reserve for their team. Each qualifying athlete is automatically named to the Academic All-District team and goes on the national -ballot for the sport. Voting is conducted by the CSC (formerly the College Sports Information Directors of America) membership.
UK’s Academic All-Americans for the 2022-23 school year feature (first team unless noted otherwise):
- Caitlin Brooks, women’s swimming and diving
- Eric Coffel, softball (third team)
- Ben Damge, men’s soccer
- Laney Frye, women’s golf
- Izzy Gati, women’s swimming and diving
- Luis Grassow, men’s soccer
- Jackson Gray, baseball (second team)
- Kayla Kowalik, softball
- Will Levis, football (Academic All-American of the Year for football)
- Lauren Poole, women’s swimming and diving
- Anna Havens Rice, women’s swimming and diving (third team)
- Josh Sobota, men’s track and field
UK Athletics’ academic highlights for 2022-23 also feature:
- School record 167 graduates, including 19 with master’s degrees
- UK tied the school record for its NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 92%, three points above the national average of 89%
- Extended UK’s streak of 22 semesters with a 3.0 department-wide grade-point average
- 388 Wildcats on the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Rolls
- 34 Wildcats earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District, including the 12 All-Americans listed above
- All of UK’s teams surpassed the mandatory for NCAA Academic Progress Rate and UK’s overall mark was higher than the overall national average
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