All-Americans Highlight 18 Husker Grads

Lincoln - A total of 18 current and former Husker student-athletes across all sports will earn their undergraduate degrees from the University of Nebraska during commencement exercises at Pinnacle Bank Arena Saturday at 9 a.m.

Six student-athletes from the Nebraska football program will earn their degrees, led by twin brothers Carlos and Khalil Davis, who are also members of the Husker track and field team. The seniors from Blue Springs, Mo., join junior Tony Butler (Lakewood, Ohio), senior Wyatt Mazour (Albion, Neb.) and senior DaiShon Neal (Houston, Texas) in earning their degrees before their final season on the field for the Big Red. The current football Huskers are joined in the graduating class by former Husker Terrell Newby, who was a senior on the field for Nebraska in 2016. In his four seasons as a Husker, the running back from Los Angeles rushed for more than 2,200 yards and added more than 350 yards on 53 receptions out of the backfield. 

Overall, the Nebraska football team will enter the 2019 season with 16 college graduates on the field, including 13 who earned their bachelor’s degrees from the University of Nebraska.

Nebraska’s track and field program added four graduates in addition to the All-American Davis twins, led by 2018 NCAA indoor 60-meter hurdles runner-up Antoine Lloyd. The five-time All-American from Kentwood, Mich., was joined by Jace Anderson (Lincoln, Neb.), Nicole Colonna (Los Altos Hills, Calif.) and 2019 All-American and Big Ten javelin champion Chase Wolinski (Lincoln, Neb.).

The Nebraska men’s basketball program added a pair of graduates in 1,000-point career scorers with James Palmer Jr. (Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Glynn Watson Jr. (Bellwood, Ill.), while the men’s golf team contributed a pair of graduates in Jace Guthmiller (Yankton, S.D.) and Sean Song (Omaha, Neb.).  

Nebraska’s 2019 Male Student-Athlete of the Year Anton Stephenson (Fishers, Ind.) also will claim his degree. The nutrition and health sciences major was the Big Ten Co-Gymnast of the Year in 2019 and a Nissen-Emery Award finalist. The four-time All-American and 2018 NCAA runner-up on vault was also a four-time Big Ten champion, including three straight conference vault titles. He was also Nebraska’s most decorated student as well, claiming first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in addition to an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship, a Wayne Duke Postgraduate Scholarship and a Big Ten Postgraduate Scholarship.

Bri Cassidy (San Bernardino, Calif.) added a graduate for the Nebraska softball program, while Darrien Washington (Oakland, Calif.) contributed a graduate for the Husker women’s basketball team. Francesca Giganti (St. Louis, Mo.) rounded out the list of 16 Husker graduates as a member of the Nebraska swimming and diving program.

Overall, the 18 Husker graduates in August came to Nebraska from 10 states. Over the last three graduations (December 2018, May 2019, August 2019), a total of 136 Husker student-athletes from 28 states and eight foreign countries have earned their degrees from the University of Nebraska.

Nebraska continues to feature one of the highest graduation rates in the nation, while leading the nation in the number of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans (338) and NCAA Today’s Top Ten Award winners (17) across all sports.

August 2019 Nebraska Student-Athlete Graduates (18) Student-Athlete (Spor)t Hometown - Major Jace Anderson (Track & Field) Lincoln, Nebraska - Psychology/Spanish Tony Butler (Football) Lakewood, Ohio - Ethnic Studies Bri Cassidy (Softball) San Bernardino, California - Communication Studies/Sociology Nicole Colonna (Cross Country/Track & Field) Los Altos Hills, California - Nutrition & Health Sciences Carlos Davis (Football/Track & Field) Blue Springs, Missouri - Child, Youth & Family Studies Khalil Davis (Football/Track & Field) Blue Springs, Missouri - Child, Youth & Family Studies Francesca Giganti (Swimming & Diving) St. Louis, Missouri - Communication Studies/Management Jace Guthmiller (Men’s Golf) Yankton, South Dakota - Finance Antoine Lloyd (Track & Field) Kentwood, Michigan - Sociology Wyatt Mazour (Football) Albion, Nebraska - Nutrition & Health Sciences DaiShon Neal (Football) Houston, Texas - Criminology & Criminal Justice Terrell Newby (Football) Los Angeles, California - Sociology James Palmer Jr. (Men’s Basketball) Upper Marlboro, Maryland - Sociology Sean Song (Men’s Golf) Omaha, Nebraska - Management Anton Stephenson (Men’s Gymnastics) Fishers, Indiana - Nutrition & Health Sciences Darrien Washington (Women’s Basketball) Oakland, California - Applied Science Glynn Watson Jr. (Men’s Basketball) Bellwood, Illinois - Sociology Chase Wolinski (Track & Field) Lincoln, Nebraska - Ethnic Studies/Sociology