Four Huskers Named to Academic All-District Team

Lincoln -- Four Nebraska football players have been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District VII Football Team announced on Thursday. The four Nebraska players are among 24 student-athletes named to the team and will advance to the Academic All-America ballot.

Senior fullback Judd Davies and senior cornerback Pat Ricketts were both named to the University Division All-District VII team for the third consecutive season. The University Division includes Division I and Division I-AA schools. Davies and Ricketts were teammates at Millard North High School before joining the Husker program. Davies carries a 3.901 cumulative grade-point average in pre-medicine, while Ricketts graduated with a 3.52 grade-point average in business administration last August.

Davies and Ricketts are joined on the Academic All-District VII team by a pair of junior defenders. Linebacker Chad Sievers (business administration) is the only player on the District VII team who carries a perfect 4.0 cumulative grade-point average. A native of Valley, Neb., Sievers began his career at New Mexico State before transferring to Nebraska. Junior strong safety Philip Bland is the fourth all-district honoree. He carries a 3.399 GPA in business administration.

Nebraska’s all-district selections were tops in the District VII, while Wyoming, Air Force and Colorado State each had three all-district picks. Nebraska leads the nation in Academic All-Americans with 203 across all sports and all teams, including 76 football certificates (59 first-team).