May 27, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; - Penn State relief pitcher Paul Cianciolo put a cap on an impressive two-sport career on Tuesday, as he was named a 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® Second Team selection by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Cianciolo was eligible for inclusion on the Academic All-America® team selected by CoSIDA after being named an Academic All-District II First Team selection earlier this month. Both honors are a first for the Charleston, S.C. native in his career at Penn State. He is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree in both baseball and football.
Cianciolo's selection is the Nittany Lion Baseball program's highest CoSIDA Academic All-America honor since Mike DeRenzo made the first team in 2002. Penn State Baseball has sported five Academic All-Americans this decade.
To become eligible for nomination, a student-athlete must obtain a 3.30 grade-point average in both undergraduate and graduate coursework and perform exemplary work on the diamond.
Cianciolo has become one of Penn State's most revered student-athletes in recent memory. He owns a GPA of 3.94 and has attained Dean's List honors every semester as an undergraduate in marketing in the Smeal College of Business. After graduating in three years (August 2007), Cianciolo moved onto obtaining his Master's of Business Administration (M.B.A.) with a primary concentration in corporate finance and earned a GPA of 3.8 in his post-graduate studies.
Cianciolo also was a quarterback on the Penn State football team the past four seasons, helping the Nittany Lions to 40 victories and two Big Ten titles and Bowl Championship Series berths.
Earlier this month, he became the first player in Penn State baseball history and the first student-athlete in the tenure of Joe Paterno to obtain his M.B.A. within the five years of NCAA athletic eligibility.
In his first complete season on the Penn State baseball team, Cianciolo earned a 4-1 record and a 4.5 ERA for Robbie Wine's squad. He has gave up just 16 walks in 58 innings - an average of three per nine frames pitched - and was instrumental as a long reliever in the Nittany Lion bullpen. During a two-week stretch during Big Ten play, Cianciolo tossed over 20 innings of work with a 1.73 ERA, earning a key victory against Michigan with five innings of work.
Cianciolo held the lowest ERA among long relievers during both seasons with the Nittany Lions.
Cianciolo is heading to Wall Street for a position in investment banking. Last summer, he served as an investment banking analyst for Allen & Company, LLC in New York City, where he Conducted market analysis and comparables valuation for Major League Baseball.
Last fall saw a program record five Nittany Lions be selected to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® team, with four earning first team honors. Tackle Gerald Cadogan (Portsmouth, Ohio) was joined by linebacker Josh Hull (Millheim), kick snapper Andrew Pitz (Bettendorf, Iowa) and safety Mark Rubin (Amherst, N.Y.) as first team honorees. Guard Stefen Wisniewski (Bridgeville) was a second team choice.