March 4, 2004
Branting Earns Major Award
Academic All-American of the Year
Kearney, NE – Not only has senior men's basketball player Nick Branting repeated as an Academic All-American, this time earning first-team honors, but the North Platte native has also been named the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Men's Basketball Academic All-American of the Year for the College Division.
The Academic All-American team, as selected by CoSIDA, was released this morning. There is a story in today's edition of USA Today highlighting the teams.
The college division includes NCAA Division II and III schools. Emeka Okofor of Connecticut is the CoSIDA Men's Basketball Academic All-American of the Year in the University Division.
Branting, with a career goal of being a doctor, holds a 3.94 cumulative GPA as a biology major. A Rhodes Scholar state finalist, he has already been accepted into the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Last year, Branting and Nick Svehla earned second-team Academic All-American honors. UNK was the only school, either in the College or University Division, to have two players make the team.
Branting ranks first in the RMAC and 11th in the nation in scoring at 22.2 points per game. He also averages 7.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 blocks a night. He currently ranks eighth in school history in scoring (1,649) and is one of only 11 Lopers to reach 600 points in a single season (currently at 621).
The 7th-ranked Lopers (25-3) will play Mesa State Saturday night in the RMAC Tournament semifinals.
The complete College Division Academic All-American team follows
| Name | School/Division | Yr. | Hometown | GPA | Major |
| First Team | |||||
| Nick Branting | Nebraska-Kearney | Sr. | North Platte, NE | 3.94 | Biology |
| Justin Call | Emory & Henry, Va. (III) | Sr. | Ronda, NC | 3.74 | Bus./Econ. |
| Jerett Skrifvars | Montana State-Billings (II) | Sr. | Brea, CA | 4.00 | Info Systems |
| Dennis Stanton | Ursinus, Pa. (III) | Sr. | North Wales, PA | 3.62 | English |
| Brian Westre | Missouri-Rolla (II) | Sr. | Clayton, MO | 3.83 | Eng Mgmt. |
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| Second Team | |||||
| Josh Allen | Alderson-Broaddus, W.V. (II) | Sr. | Crab Orchard, WV | 3.83 | Ath. Training |
| Jay Brogdon | Harding, Ark. (II) | Sr. | Cherokee Village, AK | 4.00 | Mgmt. |
| Michael Patrick | Wheeling Jesuit, W.V. (II) | Sr. | Perry, OH | 3.94 | Mgmt. |
| Matt Schlingman | Wooster, Ohio (III) | Jr. | Ashland, OH | 3.98 | Math |
| Tom Stolhandske | Texas Lutheran (III) | Sr. | San Antonio, TX | 3.68 | Kinesiology |
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| Third Team | |||||
| J.D. Byers | Lebanon Valley, Pa. (III) | Jr. | Westminster, MD | 3.84 | Business |
| Bryan Depew | Whitworth, Wash. (III) | Sr. | Spokane, WA | 3.46 | Bus/Acctng |
| Rob Hennigan | Emerson, Mass. (III) | Sr. | Worcester, MA | 3.71 | Broad Journ. |
| Matt Hopf | Milwaukee School of Eng (III) | Sr. | Howard’s Grove, WI | 3.94 | Arch Eng. |
| Brandon Randall | Hampden-Sydney, Va. (III) | Sr. | Williamsburg, VA | 3.98 | Physics |
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Contact:
Peter Yazvac
yazvacpa@unk.edu |