RECORD 254 BULLS NAMED TO AMERICAN ALL-ACADEMIC TEAM

TAMPA, JULY 8, 2021 – Continuing the mission of achieving excellence in the classroom, in competition, and in community, USF Athletics reached another new academic milestone with a department record of 254 student-athletes named to the 2020-21 American Athletic Conference All-Academic Team, announced Thursday by the conference.

The 254 Bulls honored across AAC-sponsored sports helped USF shatter its previous record since entering the American, which stood at 237 student-athletes honored in 2019-20. This marks the fourth straight academic year the Bulls have had more than 200 honorees and the fifth time USF has accomplished the feat since 2015-16.

USF Athletics had a record 131 men’s student-athletes named to the All-Academic Team and football led all programs with a team-record 49 honorees.

Including football, four men’s programs set or tied records for the most American Athletic All-Academic team selections in their programs’ respective histories. Coming off its historic Cinderella run to the Super Regional, head coach Billy Mohl‘s baseball team set a program record with 25 honorees, surpassing its previous best of 19.

Men’s soccer, led by head coach Bob Butehorn, had a record 21 student-athletes honored, breaking the previous mark of 18 set last year. Head coach Ashley Fisher‘s men’s tennis team tied its top program mark of eight selections that was set during the 2019-20 and 2015-16 academic years.

Two women’s programs set or matched program records for honoree totals. Head coach Erik Jenkins‘ track & field/cross country program posted a women’s high – and team record 34 honorees. Ken Eriksen‘s softball team surpassed a program-high mark of 25 honorees – set during the 2019-20 and 2018-19 school years – with 27 honored by the conference this year.

To be eligible for the All-Academic Team, student-athletes must have competed in an AAC 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 credit hours.

USF congratulated its most-ever AAC All-Academic Team members after extending its record streak of an annual department GPA over 3.0 to 13 consecutive semesters and six academic years.

Following the compilation of spring grades, USF saw 15 of 17 programs earn a 3.0 team GPA in the spring term and 14 programs log an annual team GPA better than a 3.0. The Bulls’ annual overall department GPA for the 2020-21 academic year came in at 3.23, just shy of the department record set last year (3.28) and above a 3.2 for the second straight year. It marked the sixth straight year the Bulls have been above a 3.0 as a department.

About USF Athletics
USF Athletics sponsors 19 varsity men’s and women’s teams that compete in 11 different sports, 18 at the NCAA Division I level in the American Athletic Conference. The Bulls’ athletic program began in 1965 and is in its 55th season in 2020-21. Nearly 450 student-athletes train and compete in the athletic district located on the east end of the campus in Tampa, Fla. The Bulls have claimed 23 American Athletic Conference team titles since joining the conference in 2013, including four in 2020-21, and own 127 conference titles overall. The Bulls posted a combined annual grade-point average over 3.0 for the fifth straight year in 2019-20 and have posted a program record 12 straight semesters with a combined GPA over 3.0. USF has had nearly 450 student-athletes earn their degree since 2016-17.