Southland Place Five Student-Athletes on ADA Academic All-Star Team
FRISCO, Texas - The Southland Conference places five student-athletes on the 14th annual Football Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team (FCS ADA), the association announced Tuesday. There were 58 selections out of the 92 total nominees.
Northwestern State was one of the 11 FCS universities with the maximum allowable two honorees who made the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team. Senior tight end Justin Aldredge and senior linebacker Yaser Elqutub represented the Demons while Sam Houston State senior offensive lineman Travis Watson, McNeese State graduate punter Ben Bourgeois and Stephen F. Austin junior punter Drew Nelson were the other Southland selections.
Aldredge and Elqutub are also two of the 12 finalist for the 11th Annual FCS ADA postgraduate scholarship. Two student-athletes will be selected to receive the $5,000 postgraduate scholarship the weekend of June 25-28.
Aldredge, a first-team All-Southland tight end last fall, graduated with a 3.89 GPA in accounting while Elqutub, a two-year starting linebacker, had a 3.85 grade point average in scientific inquiry in the Louisiana Scholars' College at Northwestern State. Both were magna cum laude graduates of Northwestern State last month and both were elected permanent team captains by their fellow Demon players.
A native of Natchitoches, La., Aldredge posted NSU team highs of 39 catches for 514 yards and two touchdowns, along with 50 yards rushing including a 33-yard TD run from the tailback slot.
Elqutub, from Houston, Texas, had 50 tackles, including 29 solo stops, including three tackles for lost yards. He broke up three passes and had eight quarterback hurries. A two-year starter who was honorable mention All-Southland Conference as a junior, he finished with 121 career stops in three seasons.
Watson, a native of Norman, Okla., earned first team All-Southland honors this year as the starting center for the 14-0 Bearkat football team. Watson, a political science major with a 3.44 GPA, was a key performer in the offensive line that has blocked for a Bearkat attack that led the Southland Conference in rushing offense, scoring and pass efficiency and stood second in the league in total offense. In the NCAA Division I FCS national statistics, the Bearkats ranked No. 4 in rushing, first in scoring and No. 21 in total offense.
Bourgeois, who hails from Sulphur, La., has been named to the ACA ADA team for the second consecutive year. A graduate engineering student with a perfect 4.00 GPA, Bourgeois was also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team.
Nelson, a Livingston, Texas, native, was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team after posting a 3.50 GPA in criminal justice. Nelson also received all-conference honorable mention for the Lumberjacks.
Football players from all FCS institutions are eligible for these awards. Each of the nominees were required to have a minimum GPA of 3.20 (on a 4.00 scale) in undergraduate study and have been a starter or key player with legitimate athletics credentials. The student-athlete must have reached his second year of athletics and academic standing at the nominated institution and have completed a minimum of one full academic year at the nominate institution. The student-athlete must also have participated in 50 percent of the games played at his designated position.
Football Championship Subdivision Academic All-Star Southland Representatives
|
Pos.
|
Name
|
University
|
Class
|
Hometown
|
GPA
|
Major
|
|
TE
|
Justin Aldredge
|
Northwestern State
|
Sr.
|
Natchitoches, La.
|
3.90
|
Business Administration
|
|
OL
|
Travis Watson
|
Sam Houston State
|
Sr.
|
Norman, Okla.
|
3.44
|
Political Science
|
|
LB
|
Yaser Elqutub
|
Northwestern State
|
Sr.
|
Houston, Texas
|
3.85
|
Scientific Inquiry
|
|
P
|
Ben Bourgeois
|
McNeese State
|
Gr.
|
Sulphur, La.
|
4.00
|
Engineering
|
|
P
|
Drew Nelson
|
Stephen F. Austin
|
Sr.
|
Livingston, Texas
|
3.50
|
Criminal Justice
|