Huskers Produce Stellar Academic Results

Lincoln - Husker student-athletes added another chapter to the University of Nebraska’s tradition as a national academic leader in 2006-07. Nebraska’s academic success reached new heights, as the Huskers increased their nation-leading total of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans across all sports to 248 with four new honorees.

Nebraska also celebrated the crowning of its first-ever Honda Broderick Cup winner - Husker volleyball star Sarah Pavan - who also claimed the Honda Award, CoSIDA Academic All-American-of-the-Year and National Player-of-the-Year awards for NU’s national champion volleyball team.

Nebraska led the nation with nine CoSIDA Academic All-Americans across all sports, including five first-team honorees. Coach Gary Pepin’s Husker track and field team produced the most impressive academic accomplishments with five CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, including a nation-leading four first-team honorees (Jenny Green, Nate Probasco, Ashley Selig and Issar Yazhbin).

Nebraska’s academic excellence was also demonstrated on the football field and the classroom by senior fullback Dane Todd, who became NU’s second winner of a prestigious Walter Byers NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship worth $21,500. Todd, a two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, was also the winner of a $7,500 Prentice Gautt Big 12 Conference Postgraduate Scholarship. Nebraska women’s swimmer Lauren Bailey was also honored with Gautt Postgraduate Scholarship worth $7,500 from the Big 12.

Across all sports, Nebraska student-athletes claimed 131 Academic All-Big 12 selections across all sports, including 109 first-team Academic All-Big 12 honorees. NU student-athletes also earned a Big 12-leading 525 spots on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Fall and Spring Academic Honor Rolls, 46 more than a year ago. To earn a spot on the honor roll, a student-athlete must earn a 3.0 grade-point average during the semester. During the fall and spring semesters combined, a Big 12-leading 79 Husker student-athletes produced perfect 4.0 semester GPAs, seven more than 2005-06.

The University of Nebraska Athletic Department took one special night to honor its own student-athletes on April 15 at the 17th annual Student-Athlete Recognition Banquet. Approximately 800 people were in attendance at the Bob Devaney Sports Center to see 206 student-athletes honored during the banquet, including Male Student-Athlete-of-the-Year Dane Todd (football) and Female Student-Athlete-of-the-Year Stephanie Carter (women’s gymnastics).

The Nebraska rifle team earned the department’s most coveted team award by capturing the 13th annual Herman Award. The rifle team, which posted a top-five team finish at the NCAA Championships, produced a stellar 3.675 team GPA to claim the women’s award. Coach Jay Dirksen’s cross country team earned the Herman Award on the men’s side with a 3.096 combined GPA in 2006, marking the sixth time the team has won the award, including each of the last five seasons.

The hard work, dedication and commitment of Nebraska’s student-athletes in the classroom resulted in 95 current or former student-athletes earning degrees from August of 2006 through May of 2007.

In fact, the Huskers continued to set the graduation standard among Big 12 Conference schools by increasing their Exhausted Eligibility Graduation Rate to 94 percent. The Exhausted Eligibility Rate surveys the graduation rate of scholarship student-athletes who entered the University of Nebraska from 1990 through 1999 and exhausted their athletic eligibility at Nebraska.

Coach Bill Callahan’s Husker football program was one of just 34 teams honored nationwide by the American Football Coaches Association with its 2007 Academic Achievement Award in May. Nebraska, which has earned the AFCA award seven straight seasons, was recognized for graduating 70 percent or more of its football student-athletes from the freshman class of 2001-02.

In the community, Husker student-athletes reached nearly 100,000 people throughout the state of Nebraska in 2006-07. Cornerstone outreach programs included the statewide Tour of Excellence, American Education Week and "School is Cool" Celebration. In addition to those programs, individual student-athletes continued to make countless appearances in classrooms and community groups throughout the year.

The 2006-07 season marked the fourth year of the Huskers’ innovative Life Skills Award of Excellence Team Competition, which honored the team that demonstrated the strongest commitment to all phases of the life skills program, including outreach, education and leadership. Coach John Cook and the Nebraska volleyball team captured the team trophy for the first time. This award was presented at Nebraska’s Student-Athlete Academic Recognition Banquet in April.

Academic All-America Tradition - Huskers Increase Nation-Leading All-America Total to 248
Nebraska student-athletes brought home nine CoSIDA Academic All-America awards during the 2006-07 campaign to increase Nebraska’s NCAA record total of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans to 248 - 59 more than No. 2 Notre Dame.

Nebraska’s CoSIDA Academic All-America contingent included Sarah Pavan (volleyball, first-team), Jenny Green (track, first-team), Nate Probasco (track, first-team), Ashley Selig (track, first-team), Issar Yazhbin (track, first-team), Dane Todd (football, second-team), Imke Reimers (women’s tennis, second team), Kim Shubert (track, second-team) and Stephen Tetrault (men’s gymnastics, third team).

Nebraska was one of only three schools in the nation across all divisions with more than eight CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in 2006-07, joining Tennessee and Notre Dame. The Huskers increased their nation-leading total of first-team All-Americans to an amazing 128 across all sports.

Five of Nebraska’s nine CoSIDA Academic All-Americans in 2006-07 will return to action for the Huskers in 2007-08, and 2005 volleyball Academic All-American Christina Houghtelling is also expected to return for her final season.

Academic All-Big 12 Conference - 131 Huskers Earn League Honors
Nebraska was one of five league schools to have more than 100 student-athletes honored on Academic All-Big 12 teams in 2006-07. The Huskers brought home 131 Academic All-Big 12 awards across all sports, including Big 12-leading totals in women’s track and field (22), volleyball (8) and women’s golf (5). Coach Bill Callahan’s Nebraska football team added 22 Academic All-Big 12 awards, including a conference-leading 15 first-team honorees.

Coach Gary Pepin’s men’s track and field squad added 18 Academic All-Big 12 awards, giving the combined program a league-leading total of 40, three more its total from a year ago that also led the conference.

Among the 131 NU student-athletes named to Academic All-Big 12 teams, 109 earned first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors, which requires a 3.20 grade-point average or higher and a minimum participation requirement. Missouri was the only other school in the conference to put more than 100 student-athletes on various first-team Academic All-Big 12 teams. Twenty-two other Husker student-athletes grabbed second-team honors by posting a GPA between 3.0 and 3.19.

Overall, Nebraska had 525 student-athletes honored on the Big 12 Commissioner’s Academic Honor Roll during the fall and spring semesters combined, including a Big 12-leading 79 student-athletes who posted perfect 4.0 GPA semesters in either the fall or spring. NU totals represented an impressive increase of 46 honorees, including seven more 4.0 GPA semesters than a year ago, and a total of 14 more than 2004-05.