June 25, 2008
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. - The Penn State football team produced another outstanding academic performance during the 2008 spring semester, with 45 squad members earning at least a 3.0 grade point average.
Among the 45 Nittany Lions, 18 earned Dean's List recognition by posting a 3.5 GPA or higher this past semester. Sophomore Ryan Gmerek (Houtzdale) ) earned a perfect 4.00 during the semester, while nine other full-time football student-athletes had a 3.7 GPA or higher. Among the student-athletes above a 3.7 were All-Big Ten punter Jeremy Boone (Mechanicsburg), junior linebacker Josh Hull (Millheim), record-setting placekicker Kevin Kelly (Langhorne) and starting safety Mark Rubin (Amherst, N.Y.).
Among the other Nittany Lions who earned Dean's List recognition during the spring semester were: senior tackle Gerald Cadogan (Portsmouth, Ohio), freshman linebacker Chris Colasanti (Leonard, Mich.), sophomore linebacker Bani Gbadyu (Gaithersburg, Md.), senior fullback Matt Hahn (Dix Hills, N.Y.), senior guard Ross Muir (Noblesville, Ind.), junior tight end Mickey Shuler (Enola), junior quarterback Kevin Suhey (State College) and freshman guard Stefen Wisniewski (Bridgeville).
In addition, quarterback Paul Cianciolo (Charleston, S.C.) and center Patrick Weber (Arnold), who had graduated prior to the 2007 season, earned GPAs of 3.5 or higher during the springsemester.
The superlative academic performance brings the number of 2007-08 Nittany Lion football student-athletes to 31 who have a cumulative 3.0 GPA through the spring. Among the highest achievers are: Cadogan, who was selected a first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American® in 2007, sophomore quarterback Pat Devlin (Downingtown), junior linebacker Sean Lee (Pittsburgh), junior wide receiver Jordan Norwood (State College) and junior long snapper Andrew Pitz (Bettendorf, Iowa), along with Boone, Colasanti, Hull, Rubin and Wisniewski.
Lee, Norwood and Rubin joined Cadogan on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team last fall and will be strong candidates for Academic All-American® consideration this year.
The outstanding classroom performance is the latest success in a long line of academic achievement for members of Coach Joe Paterno's program, who consistently are near the top nationally in graduation success:
• Penn State's 76 percent Graduation Success Rate was No. 3 in the nation among teams ranked in the final 2007 USA Today Coaches Top 25. Boston College (93) and Texas Tech (79) were the only teams with a higher GSR, according to data released by the NCAA last fall.
• The Nittany Lions earned the highest Graduation Success Rate among the eight Big Ten teams that played in a 2007-08 bowl game. Penn State's 76 percent rate was easily above the Division I national GSR average of 67 percent and was No. 9 among all 64 bowl teams.
• African-American members of the Penn State football team also earned a GSR of 76 percent, significantly higher than the national average of 57 percent, and 15 points higher than the next closest Big Ten school, according to the 2007 NCAA report.
• The Nittany Lions have a four-year APR score of 964, easily beating the Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) football average of 936 and the public institution average of 925. Penn State earned the Big Ten's second-highest APR score among football squads, trailing only Northwestern.
• Cadogan was selected a 2007 first team ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American®, giving Penn State at least one Academic All-American® in each of the past six years.
• During Paterno's tenure, Penn State has had 36 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans® (27 first team), 15 National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame Scholar-Athletes and 18 NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship winners. Penn State ranks fourth among all Division I-A institutions in Academic All-America® football honorees.
• The Nittany Lions had 19 Academic All-Big Ten football honorees last fall, improving their conference-leading total to 209 from 1993-2007.
Paterno enters his 43rd season as head coach with 37 returning letterwinners, including 16 starters (8 offense, 6 defense, 2 specialists). Penn State has won 31 of its last 40 games, tied for eighth-best record in the nation over that span. During the 2008 campaign, the Nittany Lions will face eight teams that played in bowl games last year, including five at home: Oregon State (Sept. 6), Illinois (Sept. 27, 8;00 p.m.), Michigan (Oct. 18-Homecoming, 4:30 p.m.), Indiana (Nov. 15) and Michigan State (Nov. 22).