July 15, 2008

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - With eight ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans during the 2007-08 school year, Notre Dame continues to stand second all-time in the number of Academic All-Americans it has produced. Academic All-Americans are annually selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Since 1952, Notre Dame has had 201 Academic All-Americans and ranks second behind Nebraska's total of 261. Notre Dame is tied with Nebraska for first in the number of Academic All-Americans (76) it has had since 2000. The Irish rank in the top five in five different categories including men's at-large, baseball, football, women's soccer and men's track and field/cross country.

The University of Notre Dame tops the lists in both baseball (29) and women's soccer (12). The Irish football team ranks second on the all-time list with 51 selections, behind only Nebraska. In the men's at-large category the Irish rank third overall with 29 selections, but are first among Division I institutions, trailing only Emory and MIT. The men's track and field/cross country team ranks fourth all-time in selections with 11. The women's softball team is also represented well as they rank seventh overall with 17 total selections, tied with both DePaul and Northern Illinois.

Notre Dame's Academic All-Americans in '07-'08 included: women's soccer players Brittany Bock (third team) and Ashley Jones (first team); football players John Carlson (second team) and Trevor Laws (second team); baseball player Brett Lilley (first team); men's soccer player Ryan Miller (second team); women's fencer Adrienne Nott (at-large-third team) and hockey player Jordan Pearce (at-large-second team).

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.