The NCAA continues to insist that student athletes are exactly that, students who are also athletes. In this role they are required to attend classes while on scholarship to play a sport for the university. For many football and basketball players this is kind of a joke. Players take the lighted credit load allowed and fill it with easy classes. Turn on any bowl game this season and you will see a string of communications majors parade out on the field. We usually laugh it off as just a bunch of dumb jocks, but it is sad so many young people are wasting a opportunity at such a valuable experience. So when a player actually does take his/her eduction seriously and puts in the hard work required I think they deserve to be recognized.
The Academic All-American awards do exactly this. Their goal is to honor student athletes that excel in the class room as well as on the playing field. This year only one Pac-12 football player made the team. That player also happens to be the first UW Husky to be honored with the award since 1991. Congratulations to Danny Shelton on being named an Academic All-American. You should be proud of the 3.54 GPA you accumulated and the Anthropology degree you will earn. You are a shining example for student athletes everywhere and the University of Washington should be proud of you.
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