Men's Basketball | 3/14/2023 11:00:00 AM
AUSTIN, Texas -- Adding to his already impressive accolade collection, Dragon sophomore guard
Jacob Beeninga has been named a First Team Academic All-America honoree by College Sports Communicators.
Beeninga, a finance and accounting major, holds a perfect 4.0 cumulative GPA in his academic career at MSUM. The selection to the Academic All-America team is the first of his career.
He was also named the NSIC's Elite 18 award winner for men's basketball this season thanks to his efforts in the classroom. The NSIC Elite 18 Award was instituted to recognize the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the NSIC Championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers.
The sophomore is coming off a career year for the Dragons on the floor as well. Beeninga averaged a team-best 17.5 points per game in 2022-23 while averaging 3.8 rebounds and 2.4 assists per contest. He shot 40.3 percent from the field on the season and netted 94 three-pointers, the fourth-most in MSUM history.
College Sports Communicators (CSC) began the distinguished Academic All-America® program in 1952, and since then, has honored more than 38,000 deserving student-athletes from numerous sports across all divisions with these elite Academic All-America® scholar-athlete honors.
Currently, CSC sponsors Academic All-America® programs for men's soccer, women's soccer, football, volleyball, men's basketball, women's basketball, men's swimming & diving, women's swimming & diving, men's tennis, women's tennis, baseball, softball and men's and women's track and field/cross country. Many other sports are eligible through the at-large program.
The 2011-12 school year marked the first year that the Academic All-America® program expanded to four divisional teams. Student-athletes were honored in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, while a fourth team — the College Division — was comprised of NAIA, Canadian and Two-Year institutions. This expansion enabled CSC to double the number of student-athletes honored on an annual basis.
Now, the Academic All-America® program is comprised of divisional teams for NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. A separate at-large program for two-year schools and Canadian institutions was added in 2018-19. Members at Two-Year schools and Canadian institutions nominate their student-athletes in all sports during the spring nomination period as part of the College Division At-Large program.
