Three Huskers named Academic All-Americans

Lincoln -- Three Nebraska football players were named GTE Academic All-Americans Tuesday. Junior Kyle Vanden Bosch and senior Mike Brown were named to the first team while senior inebacker Brian Shaw was a second-team selection, as chosen by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

The two first-team picks marked the sixth time this decade that NU has had two or more first-team selections and extends the school's streak of having at least one first-team honoree to 14 years. NU now has an NCAA record 74 Academic All-Americans in football (first and second team) and 167 in all sports. Notre Dame, ranks second with 42 Academic All-Americans in football and 114 in all sports.

Brown, a senior rover, carries a 3.242 grade-point average. Vanden Bosch, a junior rush end, owns a 3.775 GPA. Both are business administration majors. Shaw, a senior linebacker, boasts a perfect 4.0 as a double major in animal science and agricultural economics.

Shaw was named the Division I Burger King scholar-athlete of the year last week and is a finalist for the national scholar-athlete honors for all divisions.

The Academic All-America team is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America and sponsored by GTE. Any player who is a starter or an important reserve and who has maintained a 3.20 cumulative GPA is eligible to be nominated.

Five Huskers were on the national ballot after earning first-team All-District VII honors in November: Brown, Vanden Bosch, Shaw, junior split end Matt Davison (3.520 in communication studies) and senior rush end Eric Ryan (3.666, animal science).