The University Athletic Association announced the members of the 14th annual UAA Presidents Council Scholar-Athlete Team (no team was named in 2021-21 due to COVID-19). The team comprises 132 student-athletes representing all UAA member institutions across sports. To achieve this recognition, a student-athlete is required to earn first team All-Association honors and must carry a 3.50 or greater cumulative grade point average through the playing season of their sport. Student-athletes must have completed one full year at that institution to qualify.
Of this year’s 132 honorees, 21 were named the most outstanding performer or most valuable player in their sport by their respective UAA coaches’ group and two were awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship.
The UAA Presidents Council created this special recognition in 2009. The original recommendation to establish this honor came from the UAA Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and was supported by the Athletic Administrators and Delegates Committees.
The UAA has recognized exceptional academic achievement by its student-athletes since 1998 when the Presidents Council established a program of All-Academic recognition for student-athletes who carry a cumulative grade point average that meets the threshold for Academic All-America® recognition. On average, approximately 60% of eligible sophomore, junior, and senior student-athletes from UAA member teams have met that threshold each year.
“While our student-athletes appreciated the All-Academic recognition, they sought something that would more directly recognize the combination of academic and athletic excellence that is at the core of the UAA philosophy,” commented UAA Executive Vice President Dick Rasmussen. “In proposing the concept of the award, one of our SAAC members suggested — ‘as UAA student-athletes this is what we do, this is who we are.’”
As a group, UAA student-athletes and teams have consistently demonstrated high levels of both academic and athletic achievement. The UAA Presidents Council Scholar-Athlete Team recognition demonstrates the success of these principles at the level of the individual student-athlete.