From Case Western Reserve University Athletics
Case Western Reserve University senior guard Antonio Ionadi (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Hampton) was named to the Men's Basketball Academic All-America Third Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), becoming the first Spartan men's basketball player to earn the honor since the 2013-14 campaign.
The CoSIDA Academic All-America Teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Due to pandemic, a focus this year was placed on nominees' career athletic achievements, rather than season achievements.
Ionadi is the first Spartan during the 2020-21 academic year to be named an Academic All-American, and the 120th overall in the history of CWRU Athletics. It is the 10th time in the history of the CWRU men's basketball program that a player has been named an Academic All-American, as Ionadi joined former Spartans Harvey Clough (1974), David Grendel (1977), Jim Fox (1995, 1996, 1997), Eric Duerr (2010, 2011), Austin Fowler (2013) and David Thompson (2014).
Ionadi has averaged 9.2 points per game over his career, appearing in all 75 of the team's games over the previous three seasons, and making 44 starts. After just three seasons, he ranked seventh in program history in made three-pointers (153), three-point percentage (38.2%) and free-throw percentage (82.8%). He started all 25 games for the Spartans as a junior, finishing the year third on the team with a career-high 10.8 points per game, and shooting 40.0% overall, including 40.4% from behind the three-point line. Ionadi was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2019 Bill Sudeck Tournament.
Ionadi has accumulated a 3.942 cumulative grade point average as an Accounting major at CWRU. He is a three-time Academic All-UAA selection, a two-time Van Horn Society inductee, and was named to the NABC Honors Court following his junior campaign.
CWRU did not play an intercollegiate game during the 2020-21 campaign due to the pandemic.