| Donnie Johnson and Jay Alford |
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; June 16, 2007 ?C The Penn State football team produced another outstanding academic performance during the Spring 2007 semester, with 38 squad members earning at least a 3.0 grade point average.
Among the 38 Nittany Lions, 12 earned Dean's List recognition by posting a 3.5 GPA or higher this past semester. Junior quarterback Paul Cianciolo (Charleston, S.C.) earned a perfect 4.0 GPA for the second consecutive spring semester, while six other full-time football student-athletes had a 3.7 or higher.
The superlative academic performance brings the number of Nittany Lion football student-athletes to 29 who have a cumulative 3.0 GPA. Among the highest achievers are: junior tackle Gerald Cadogan (Portsmouth, Ohio), who was selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team last year, sophomore quarterback Pat Devlin (Downingtown), junior cornerback Justin King (Pittsburgh), junior linebacker Sean Lee (Pittsburgh) and junior wide receiver Jordan Norwood (State College).
Among the other Nittany Lions who earned Dean's List recognition were junior tight end Francis Claude (Laval, Quebec), senior kicker Joe Hughes (Downingtown), sophomore linebacker Josh Hull (Millheim), junior safety Mark Rubin (Amherst, N.Y.), sophomore quarterback Kevin Suhey (State College) and senior center Patrick Weber (Arnold), in addition to Cadogan, Cianciolo and Devlin.
The outstanding classroom performance is the latest success in a long line of academic achievement for members of Paterno??s program, who consistently are near the top nationally in graduation success:
* All-America linebacker Paul Posluszny (Aliquippa) was selected the 2006 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American? of the Year, becoming a two-time first team Academic All-American?. Defensive end Tim Shaw (Livonia, Mich.) also earned first team Academic All-America? honors in 2006 and safety Nolan McCready (Wyomissing) was a second team Academic All-American?.
During Paterno??s tenure, Penn State has had 35 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans? (26 first team), 15 National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholar-Athletes (including Posluszny in 2006) and 18 NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship winners. Penn State ranks fourth among all Division I-A institutions in Academic All-America? football honorees.
* Two members of the 2007 squad have already graduated and three others are on schedule to graduate in August. Weber and senior tailback Rodney Kinlaw (Goose Creek, S.C.) earned their degrees in May.
* The Nittany Lions had 18 Academic All-Big Ten football honorees last fall, improving their conference-leading total to 190 from 1993-2006.
* According to the ??2006 NCAA Division I Graduation Rates Report,?? Penn State??s 83 percent football graduation rate was third highest in the nation among all Division I-A public institutions and 2006-07 bowl teams. The Nittany Lions had the seventh-highest graduation rate overall among all of the nation??s 119 Division I-A programs, including the best among Big Ten Conference institutions.
The Penn State football team??s graduation rate of 83 percent for students entering in 1999 was 28 points higher than the national average of 55 percent.
* Penn State??s four-year football graduation rate (for students entering 1996-99) of 76 percent was tied for 10th-highest among I-A institutions and tied for second-best among public institutions. Penn State trailed only Northwestern (79 percent) for the best four-year football rate among Big Ten institutions. The national four-year average also was 55 percent.
* Among African-American football student-athletes entering in 1999-2000, the Nittany Lions posted a graduation figure of 71 percent to significantly exceed the 49 percent national average. Penn State??s four-year graduation rate for African-American players was 72 percent, 23 points higher than the national average.
In his 42nd season as head coach, Paterno??s squad returns 15 starters and 33 letterwinners for the the 2007 season. The Nittany Lions, who have won 22 of their last 27 games, have a blockbuster 2007 home schedule that includes five bowl teams from last season: Notre Dame (Sept. 8, 6:00 p.m. - ESPN), Iowa (Oct. 6), Wisconsin (Oct. 13- Homecoming, 3:30 p.m.-ABC), Ohio State (Oct. 27, 8:00 p.m.) and Purdue (Nov. 3).