LEXINGTON, Ky. – A school-record 12 University of Kentucky athletes were elected to the official Academic All-America teams from the College Sports Communicators (CSC) organization during the 2022-23 school year, capping another year of academic success for UK Athletics.
The total of 12 Wildcats breaks the school record of 10 Academic All-Americans set during the 2020-21 school year. Nine of the Wildcats earned first-team designation, one was second team and two more were third team. One Wildcat – quarterback Will Levis – was named the Academic All-American of the Year in his sport, signifying his status as the top student-athlete among all NCAA Division I football players.
Additional statistics include:
UK’s total of 12 Academic All-Americans tied for fourth in the nation among the 363 Division I schools.
This improves Kentucky’s all-time total to 143 Academic All-Americans, which ranks 18th all-time in Division I.
UK has had 106 Academic All-Americans since 2000, 10th among Division I institutions during that time frame.
To qualify for Academic All-America, a student-athlete must have a career grade-point average of at least 3.5, be a sophomore or higher in academic and athletic standing, and be a starter or important reserve for his or her team. Each qualifying athlete is automatically named to the Academic All-District team and goes on the national ballot for the sport. Voting is conducted by the CSC (formerly the College Sports Information Directors of America) membership.
UK’s Academic All-Americans for the 2022-23 school year feature (first team unless noted otherwise):
Caitlin Brooks, women’s swimming and diving
Eric Coffel, softball (third team)
Ben Damge, men’s soccer
Laney Frye, women’s golf
Izzy Gati, women’s swimming and diving
Luis Grassow, men’s soccer
Jackson Gray, baseball (second team)
Kayla Kowalik, softball
Will Levis, football (Academic All-American of the Year for football)
Lauren Poole, women’s swimming and diving
Anna Havens Rice, women’s swimming and diving (third team)
Josh Sobota, men’s track and field
UK Athletics’ academic highlights for 2022-23 also feature:
School record 167 graduates, including 19 with master’s degrees
UK tied the school record for its NCAA Graduation Success Rate of 92 percent, three points above the national average of 89 percent
Extended UK’s streak of 22 semesters with a 3.0 department-wide grade-point average
388 Wildcats on the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Rolls
34 Wildcats earned College Sports Communicators Academic All-District, including the 12 All-Americans listed above
All of UK’s teams surpassed the mandatory for the NCAA Academic Progress Rate and UK’s overall mark was higher than the overall national average
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