2007 All-ACC Academic Football Team Announced
The leading rusher in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the most accurate passer in the nation, the leading scorer in the ACC and five players who earned first or second-team, All-Conference honors this past season secured spots on the 40-member 2007 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Football Team, as announced Monday by Commissioner John Swofford.
To be eligible for consideration, a player must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career. All 12 ACC schools were represented by at least one selection on the team.
Georgia Tech senior running back Tashard Choice, who led the ACC in rushing for the second straight year with 1,379 yards, and Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner, who completed 72.4 percent of his passes to lead the nation in the NCAA's Bowl Subdivision, both earned selection to the team as did Clemson placekicker Mark Buchholz, who led the ACC in scoring with 114 points.
Also, Choice (1st team), Georgia Tech senior placekicker Travis Bell (1st), Virginia tight end Tom Santi (2nd), Maryland offensive guard Andrew Crummey (2nd) and Georgia Tech senior center Kevin Tuminello (2nd) all earned first or second-team All-ACC honors this past year. Santi was named in December as the ACC's winner of the 2007 Jim Tatum Award, presented annually to the Conference's top Scholar-Athlete in football.
Crummey was a second-team All-America selection by The Sporting News, while Bell, Choice and Wake Forest Defensive End Jeremy Thompson were Honorable Mention All-America selections. Boston College tackle Anthony Castonzo was chosen a first-team Freshman All-America by the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and Maryland punter Travis Baltz, were selected an Honorable Mention Freshmen All-Americas by The Sporting News.
Tech's Bell, who did not miss a PAT in his 138 career attempts, earned selection to the ACC All-Academic team for the fourth consecutive year. Five others, Rumsey of Maryland, Santi of Virginia, Tuminello of Georgia Tech, Bailey of Duke and Louis Frazier of Wake Forest earned their third straight ACC All-Academic selection. Ten repeated from last year's team and Wake's Thompson also earned his second Academic honors, having been chosen for the 2005 team.
Skinner was joined by two other starting quarterbacks in Duke's Thaddeus Lewis and Virginia Tech's Sean Glennon.
Bell, Virginia Tech's Jud Dunlevy and NC State's Stephen Hauschka were all semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award. And four of the top six scorers in the ACC are also featured on the team led by Clemson's Buchholz, who averaged 8.8 points per game, followed by Bell (3rd), Dunlevy (4th) and Maryland's Obi Egekeze (6th).
The 2007 All-ACC Academic Football team is as follows:
2007 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Football Team
Player School Class Pos. Major
Steve Aponavicius Boston College Jr. PK Finance
Thomas Austin Clemson Jr. OL Political Science
Patrick Bailey Duke Sr. DL Electrical Engineering
Travis Baltz Maryland Fr. P Business
Travis Bell Georgia Tech Sr. PK Management
Mark Buchholz Clemson Jr. PK Marketing
Anthony Castonzo Boston College Fr. OL Undeclared
Tashard Choice Georgia Tech Sr. RB History, Technology & Society
Phil Costa Maryland So. OL Criminal Justice
Andrew Crummey Maryland Sr. OL Government and Political Geography
Ronnie Drummer Duke Sr. RB African-American Studies
Jud Dunlevy Virginia Tech Sr. PK Education, Health & PE
Lowell Dyer North Carolina Jr. OL English
Obi Egekeze Maryland Jr. PK Finance
Louis Frazier Wake Forest Sr. OL Sociology
Sean Glennon Virginia Tech Jr. QB Finance
Mears Green NC State Sr. OL Biochemistry
Dan Gronkowski Maryland Gr. TE MBA
Stephen Hauschka NC State Gr. PK Sports Management
Mark Herzlich Boston College So. LB Undeclared
Staton Jobe Virginia So. WR Undeclared
Nick Larkin Boston College Sr. DL Human Development
Luke Lathan NC State Sr. OL Agricultural Business Management
Thaddeus Lewis Duke So. QB Undecided
Jimmy Maners Clemson Sr. P History
Derek Nicholson Florida State Jr. LB Sports Management
Wesley Oglesby Duke Fr. DL Undecided
Michael Palmer Clemson So. TE Marketing
Alex Pearson Clemson Sr. FB Marketing
Colin Peek Georgia Tech So. TE Management
Myron Rolle Florida State So. DB Exercise Science
Matt Rumsey Duke Sr. OL Political Science
Tom Santi Virginia Sr. TE Sociology
Riley Skinner Wake Forest So. QB Business
David Strimple Miami Sr. PK/P/H Finance
Jeremy Thompson Wake Forest Sr. DL Health & Exercise Science
Kevin Tuminello Georgia Tech Sr. OL Building Construction
Carlton Weatherford Virginia Tech Gr. FB Education, Health & PE
Edwin Williams Maryland Jr. OL Communications
Ben Wooster Wake Forest So. TE Health & Exercise Science
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