December 23rd, 2009
Bobcats’ George named Southland Student-Athlete of the Year

SUBMITTED REPORT

Texas State quarterback Bradley George was named the Capital One Bank/Southland Conference Football Student-Athlete of the Year, the league office announced Monday in conjunction with the release of the All-Academic Football Team.

George, the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year, completed 63 percent (258-of-409) of his passes for 3,121 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2009. The graduate student from New Braunfels, Texas (Canyon), was seven yards shy of the school’s single season record for most passing yards, and ended his career as Texas State’s all-time career passing leader, having completed 753-of-1,277 passes (60 percent) for 9,556 yards and 91 touchdowns. He threw for 300 yards six times and tied his own single-game record of 30 completions twice in 2009.

George graduated with a degree in industrial technology in 2008 and is a three-time member of the Southland Conference Football All-Academic Teams, with selection in 2006, 2008 and 2009. He is a four-time member of the Southland Commissioner’s Honor Roll between 2005-09 and a Texas State Oak Farms Dairy Academic Award winner in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009. As an undergraduate, George maintained a 3.12 grade-point average.

The Southland Conference awards committee, which consists of one administrator from each of the 12 member schools, 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.

Texas State placed four student-athletes on the Capital One Bank/Southland Conference All-Academic team, including George. His teammates who joined him on the teams include running back Jeff McVaney, defensive lineman Travis Houston and defensive back Will Thompson.

Northwestern State led the league with six selections on the All-Academic team, including running back Quinten Goodie, tight end Justin Aldredge, defensive lineman Scott Wattigny, linebacker Blake Delcambre and defensive backs Wesley Eckles and Phillip LeBlanc.

McNeese State also placed five on the All-Academic team, while Central Arkansas had four. Stephen F. Austin and Nicholls each placed two on the team, while Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana each had one.

There were 10 automatic selections to the All-Academic team. To be an automatic selection, a student-athlete must make at least one of the following teams: first-team All-Southland Conference, College Sports Information Directors of America/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI team or FCS Athletic Directors Association Academic All-Star Team.

Five student-athletes were named CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VI selections, including Goodie, Aldredge and Wattigny, all from Northwestern State, as well as Sam Houston State offensive lineman Jordan Bowersox and Central Arkansas offensive lineman Austin Emerson. Aldredge, Bowersox, Stephen F. Austin defensive end Tim Knicky and Texas State defensive lineman Travis Houston were named FCS ADA Academic All-Stars on Friday.

Three others – McNeese State quarterback Derrick Fourroux, McNeese State defensive end Desmund Lighten and Nicholls punter Patrick Dolan – joined the group as automatic selections by virtue of being named first-team All-Southland Conference. There were a total of five all-conference selections on the All-Academic teams.

George, Knicky and Houston made the All-Academic team for the third time, while two-time honorees include Goodie, Bowersox, Delcambre, Eckles, Thompson, Dolan and Central Arkansas offensive lineman Casey Thurber, .

The All-Academic teams are voted on by the head coaches, sports information directors and academic/compliance administrators 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.

Included in Capital One Bank’s support of the Southland Conference’s Academic Awards Program is the F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarship, the All-Academic Teams, the Student-Athlete of the Year, the Scholar-Athlete Award and the Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

— FROM TEXAS STATE SPORTS INFORMATION/RICK POULTER