Four Huskers Earn Academic Honors

Four Nebraska basketball players were named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Honor Roll released on June 16 by the conference office. Among the honorees were returning senior Matt Karn and sophomores Mike Fox and Ray Gallegos. Also honored was former Husker Paul Velander, who earned a 4.0 grade-point average for the spring while working toward his master's degree.

Karn and Fox each earned the honor for the second time in their careers, and the second straight semester. Karn also was one of two Huskers to earn his undergraduate degree in the May commencement ceremonies on the UNL campus. For Gallegos, it was the first academic award of his career.

In the fall semester of 2009, Karn, Fox and Velander were joined on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll by Jorge Brian Diaz, Lance Jeter and Brandon Ubel, who all return in 2010-11. They were accompanied by former Huskers Quincy Hankins-Cole and Myles Holley, marking the most Huskers to earn a spot on the commissioner's honor roll in one semester since 2006.

Overall, the Nebraska athletic program produced 328 honorees on the Big 12 Commissioner's Spring Academic Honor Roll, while Velander was one of 42 student-athletes with perfect 4.0 GPAs. To earn a spot on the honor roll, a student-athlete must produce a 3.0 semester GPA.

During the 2009-10 academic year, Nebraska produced a Big 12-record 687 honor roll selections in the fall and spring semesters combined.

Nebraska, which leads the nation with 274 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans all-time across all-sports, also led the Big 12 with 178 academic All-Big 12 honorees in 2009-10, including a Big 12-best 152 first-team academic all-conference selections. Nebraska continues to lead the Big 12 Conference with a 94 percent exhausted eligibility graduation rate.