NEW ORLEANS – Sixteen Sun Belt football student-athletes were named to the
2020-21 CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team, the organization announced Thursday. The team recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
Coastal Carolina paced all Sun Belt programs with five student-athletes honored, followed by App State (4), Troy (3), South Alabama (2), Arkansas State (1) and Georgia State (1).
The Chanticleers honorees were graduate student offensive lineman Steven Bedosky, senior defensive lineman Tarron Jackson, graduate student linebacker Silas Kelly, graduate student punter Charles Ouverson and senior defensive back Alex Spillum.
App State’s selections included senior offensive lineman Noah Hannon, senior wide receiver Thomas Hennigan, senior defensive back Kaiden Smith and graduate student defensive lineman Caleb Spurlin.
Troy was represented by senior defensive back Kyle Nixon, senior offensive lineman Austin Stidham and graduate student wide receiver Luke Whittemore.
Arkansas State graduate student kicker Blake Grupe and Georgia State sophomore special teams contributor Seth Glausier rounded out the Sun Belt’s 16 selections.
Georgia State’s Glausier led all Sun Belt undergraduate honorees with a 3.99 GPA as a business management major. App State’s Caleb Spurlin and South Alabama’s Brian Ankerson boast 4.00 GPAs in their graduate studies in management and public administration, respectively.
First Team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot, with First Team and Second Team Academic All-Americans to be announced in early July.
CoSIDA Academic All-District Selections
Noah Hannon, App State (Sr., OL) – Exercise Science – 3.57 GPA
Thomas Hennigan, App State (Sr., WR) – Marketing & Sales – 3.53 GPA
Kaiden Smith, App State (Sr., DB) – Communication Journalism – 3.76 GPA
Caleb Spurlin, App State (Gr., DL) – Management – 3.62 (UG)/4.00 (G) GPA
Blake Grupe, Arkansas State (Gr., K) – Business Administration – 3.32 (UG)/3.57 (G) GPA
Steven Bedosky, Coastal Carolina (Gr., OL) – Instructional Technology – 3.83 (UG)/3.75 (G) GPA
Tarron Jackson, Coastal Carolina (Sr., DL) – Mathematics – 3.43 GPA
Silas Kelly, Coastal Carolina (Gr., LB) – MBA – 3.85 (UG)/3.84 (G) GPA
Charles Ouverson, Coastal Carolina (Gr., P) – Information Technology – 3.72 (UG)/3.73 (G) GPA
Alex Spillum, Coastal Carolina (Sr., DB) – Communication – 3.55 GPA
Seth Glausier, Georgia State (So., ST) – Business Management – 3.99 GPA
Brian Ankerson, South Alabama (Gr., OL) – Public Administration – 3.83 (UG)/4.00 (G) GPA
Gi’Narious Johnson, South Alabama (Jr., DL) – Professional Health Sciences – 3.41 GPA
Kyle Nixon, Troy (Sr., DB) – Business – 3.34 GPA
Austin Stidham, Troy (Sr., OL) – Biology/Biomedical Sciences – 3.90 GPA
Luke Whittemore, Troy (Gr., WR) – Sports Management – 3.90 (UG)/3.50 (G) GPA