All-Academic Team (PDF)

FRISCO, Texas – Northwestern State senior kicker John Shaughnessy was named the Southland Conference Football Student-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Tuesday in conjunction with the release of the all-academic football team.

Shaughnessy, a three-time all-academic selection, is the first Northwestern State player to be named the Southland football student-athlete of the year since Dudley Guice received the honor in 2008. A biology/pre-med major with a 3.69 grade-point average, Shaughnessy was a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Postgraduate Scholarship and was selected as part of the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Director’s Association Academic All-Star Team. Shaughnessy was also named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-District Team and was one of eight finalists for the three Academic All-America kicker positions.

A native of Shreveport, La., Shaughnessy received his second consecutive all-conference honor after playing in all 11 games for the Demons in 2012. Shaughnessy ranked 21st nationally in field goals made per game after kicking 14 of 17 field goals on the year with a long of 47 yards. Shaughnessy, who was selected as permanent team captain for the Demon football team this past season by his peers, holds the Northwestern State record with 12 consecutive made field goals.

Seven Southland universities were represented on the all-academic team with Northwestern and Nicholls State recording a conference-best five members. Central Arkansas, McNeese State and Sam Houston State each had three selections, while Lamar and Stephen F. Austin had two members each.

There were six automatic selections on the Southland all-academic team. To be an automatic selection, a student-athlete must be a first-team All-Southland Conference, a Capital One Academic All-District selection by CoSIDA or named to the FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star Team, which was announced last week before the national championship game.

The Southland had two CoSIDA selections with Shaughnessy and Lamar junior punter Kollin Kahler.  Shaughnessy earned Academic All-District 6 while Kahler was named All-District 7. Kahler, a native of Waco, Texas, posted a 3.90 GPA in exercise science while starting all 12 games for the Cardinals. The junior has been named to the Lamar President’s List four times with a perfect 4.00 GPA.

Three players were named to the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team this season. Joining Shaughnessy and Kahler on the ADA Academic All-Star Team was Sam Houston State graduate tight end T.J. Jones. Jones, who hails from Waco, Texas, was named first-team All-Southland this season while posting a 3.50 GPA in health.

The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 10 member universities, voted for the student-athlete of the year. The Southland student-athlete of the year award is presented to the one student-athlete who achieves excellence in both academics and athletics. All nominees shall have earned at least a 3.2 GPA on a 4.0 scale, and demonstrated athletics achievement for at least two years at the nominating institution.

The All-Academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic advisors from each Southland Conference university. Student-athletes must possess a 3.0 cumulative GPA, have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution and participated in at least 50 percent of the team’s competition to qualify for the all-academic squad.