Sun Belt Honors 130 Pioneers for Academics

Athletics

Courtesy: Denver Athletics

Courtesy: Denver Athletics
Release: 07/31/2012

2011-12 Commissioner's List
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2011-12 Honor Roll

NEW ORLEANS - A record 1,793 Sun Belt Conference student-athletes earned a GPA over 3.0 for the previous school year and were named to either the SBC Academic Honor Roll or SBC Commissioner's List the league office announced. The 2011-12 academic year marked the third time in the last four years that the academic honors were doled out to 1,700 or more student-athletes.

The Commissioner's List is comprised of student-athletes who received a grade point average of 3.5 or higher for the previous academic year.

The University of Denver landed 71 student-athletes on the Commissioner's List and another 59 on the Honor Roll. The 59 student-athletes on the Honor Roll and 130 total honorees were the most by the Pioneers since 1999-00, the final year the Sun Belt also included non-league sponsored sports in the lists. The 71 student-athletes on the Commissioner's List are the second most in DU history, eclipsed only by the 74 student-athletes in 2008-09.

This year's list comprised of 826 student-athletes being honored on the Commissioner's List while the remaining 967 student-athletes were recognized on the Academic Honor Roll. The 826 student-athletes on the Commissioner's List was a new SBC record, topping last year's total of 797. The 1,793 was an increase of eight percent over the total from 2010-11 (1,659).

"This is a tremendous accomplishment for our member universities, athletics departments and our quality student-athletes," Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson said. "We are very proud of the high academic achievement of our student-athletes in the Sun Belt and it proves that our member universities and athletics programs are committed to excellence, not just on the fields and on the courts but in the classroom as well."

The Pioneers earned their 11^th SBC Graduation Rate Award in 12 years this spring. Denver also boasts an Academic Progress Rate (APR) of 925 or better in each of its 17 NCAA Division I sport programs for the fifth-straight year, including men's golf, men's soccer and women's skiing, which were honored this year with the NCAA's Public Recognition Award.

"Our coaches and administrators have done an outstanding job in mentoring and providing the necessary tools and resources for our student-athletes to succeed and reach such high levels of academic success," added Commissioner Benson.

The total of 1,793 student-athletes that were honored tops the previous highs of 1,710 set during the 2010-11 school year, 1,700 set during the 2008-09 school year, 1,503 for the 2007-08 school year and 1,429 for the 2006-07 school year.

University of Denver's Sun Belt Conference Academic Honors

Men's Basketball

Commissioner's List (3):

Chase Hallam, Junior

Brian Stafford, Senior

Tyler Thalken, Senior

Honor Roll (5):

Justin Coughlin, Senior

Travis Hallam, Senior

Rob Lewis, Graduate Student

Chris Udofia, Sophomore

Charles Webb, Sophomore