Huskers Earn District and Big 12 Honors

Seniors Jason Dourisseau (Omaha, Neb.) and Bronsen Schliep (Fairfield, Neb.) were among five players named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VII University Division first-team, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced Thursday. Dourisseau and Schliep will now be included among the 40 student-athletes who will be considered for Academic All-America? honors.

Dourisseau and Schliep are the third and fourth Huskers in the six seasons under Coach Barry Collier to be named to the academic all-district first team. Last season, Jake Muhleisen was selected to the squad while Cary Cochran earned the honor as a senior in 2002.

Dourisseau is a two-time (2004, 2005) academic All-Big 12 first-team member and later this season will become only the sixth Husker to earn first-team status on three occasions. A communication studies major with a 3.46 cumulative grade-point average, Dourisseau has also been named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll seven consecutive semesters. He is a nominee for the 2006 Nebraska Male Student-Athlete of the Year and has been a volunteer at the Child Advocacy Center as well as for the Read to Succeed and School is Cool Week programs.

On the court, Dourisseau is the only Husker to start every game this season and ranks second on the team in points (11.0 ppg) and rebounds (7.0 rpg). A team co-captain, he ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 Conference for rebounds per contest and has set career highs for points, rebounds and steals this season.

Schliep will earn his second straight first-team academic All-Big 12 honor this season while carrying a perfect 4.0 grade-point average over the past nine semesters. A business administration major who will enter dental school next year, Schliep is a nine-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll and has been a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee since 2004. He has been a volunteer for American Education Week and Husker Holiday Outreach as well as at the Child Advocacy Center in Lincoln.

A three-year letterwinner on the court, Schliep has seen his most significant action this year as a key reserve while playing in 21 contests this season. He has been a spark off the bench throughout the season and has started three games in 2005-06, while also providing guidance as a senior leader. 

Dourisseau and Schliep were joined on the All-District VII squad by Anthony Tolliver (Creighton), Greg Brunner (Iowa) and Adam Haluska (Iowa). They were two of the four players selected from the Big 12 Conference, including Kevin Bookout (Oklahoma) and Chris Walker (Texas A&M). 

ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District members were nominated and selected by sports information directors from around the district based on academic and athletic achievement as well as community involvement. The Academic All-America? team will also be voted on by college SIDs and will be announced next month.

Dourisseau and Schliep were also among the five Nebraska men’s basketball players selected to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the 2005 Fall semester, the NU Athletic Department announced Thursday.

Schliep earned the award for the ninth time in his career and was one of 35 Husker student-athletes to make the honor roll after receiving a 4.0 grade-point average last semester. Dourisseau received the seventh award of his career while Tony Wilbrand (Alliance, Neb.; computer science) was selected for the ninth time.

Along with the three current seniors, redshirt freshman Paul Velander (Blacksburg, Va.; natural science education) was a first-time member of the team, as was Corey Simms (St. Louis, Mo.; sociology), who exhausted his eligibility in 2005 and graduated from Nebraska in December 2005.

Overall, Nebraska had 235 student-athletes named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll during the fall semester.