| Members of the College Sports Information Directors of America selected Posluszny to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America team. |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., December 1, 2005 - Junior linebacker Paul Posluszny has been selected a first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America football player, Penn State's 26th student-athlete to be so honored.
Members of CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America, selected Posluszny to the prestigious team. A pair of Nittany Lions - Nolan McCready and Posluszny - had been named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Football Team. The All-District nod was the second of Posluszny's career.
A native of Aliquippa, Pa., Posluszny is the 24th Nittany Lion under Coach Joe Paterno to earn first team Academic All-America honors. The Nittany Lions' total of 34 Academic All-American football players ranks fourth among all Division I-A institutions. Thirty-two of the selections have been under Paterno. Safety Andrew Guman was a first team honoree in 2004.
An All-America candidate and finalist for the Bednarik, Butkus and Rotary Lombardi Awards, Posluszny is one of the squad's top students with a 3.67 grade point average in finance. He has made the Dean's List in each of his initial four of his semesters and is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree.
One of the nation's premier defensive players, Posluszny has been instrumental in the Nittany Lions' Big Ten Championship season. He is fourth in the Big Ten with 111 tackles (60 solo). He trails only Big Ten leader Tamba Hali with 11 tackles for losses (minus-38), has three sacks and two pass break-ups.
The first team All-Big Ten selection is only the fourth Nittany Lion to record 100 or more hits in consecutive seasons. He has 251 career tackles, tied with Hall of Famer Jack Ham, and needs less than 100 tackles to become school career leader.
Earlier this season, Posluszny became the first Big Ten student-athlete selected Football Player of the Week (Offense, Defense or Special Teams) three consecutive weeks since the conference began the selections in 1987.
A two-year starter, Posluszny has been instrumental in helping Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in pass efficiency defense (106.3 rating) and rank second in scoring (16.5 ppg), total (306. 5 ypg) and rushing defense (99.1 ypg) and sacks (38). Penn State ranked in the top 20 nationally in all five categories.
The ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Teams are selected by the1,800 members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). To be eligible, an athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve and maintain a cumulative GPA of at least 3.20 on a scale of 4.00.
Penn State has had 117 Academic All-Americans all-time to rank among the top five among all NCAA institutions. The Nittany Lions have had 74 such honorees over the past 11 1/2 years.
Penn State (10-1) is No. 3 in the Bowl Championship Series rankings and will learn its bowl destination and opponent on Sunday, Dec. 4. The BCS Selection Show airs from 5-6 p.m. on ABC.