TOWSON, Md. – University of South Carolina Aiken student-athletes Matt Atkins and Patrick Stiebinger were selected to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America Division II Men's At-Large Team.
Atkins was a First-Team selection, while Stiebinger was tabbed to the Third-Team.
The Capital One Academic All-America program is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The Men's At-Large team recognizes golf, wrestling, swimming & diving, water polo, tennis, rifle, skiing and ice hockey.
The duo gives USC Aiken's 13 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans. This year alone USC Aiken has four Academic All-Americans as USC Aiken senior volleyball student-athlete Samantha Lukralle (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst HS) was tabbed to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America Division II Volleyball Team and Bill Gerstenslager was chosen to the 2013 Capital One Academic All-America Division II Baseball Team.
Atkins is now a two-time Academic All-American as he also garnered the honor in 2012.
Atkins graduated from USC Aiken with a degree in business administration and a 3.71 GPA. He was named the 2013 PBC Men's Golfer of the Year and won the PBC Tournament Championship.
A senior from Owensboro, Ky., Atkins led the Peach Belt with a 73.0 stroke average in 36 rounds played.
Atkins won two tournaments in his senior year with a victory at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate alongside his win at the PBC Championship. Atkins also led the Pacers to a pair of team wins during the season including the PBC Championship. USC Aiken finished seventh in the NCAA Regional to advance to the national championships where they advanced to the match play quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
Atkins was particularly strong at the national championships, finishing in a tie for second place after 54 holes of stroke play.
Atkins was named to the PBC men's golf All-Academic team and has twice been named a PBC Presidential Honor Roll Gold Scholar.
Stiebinger is a business administration major at USC Aiken with a perfect 4.00 GPA.
From Weiden, Germany, he received the PBC men's tennis Elite 15 Award, presented to the athlete competing in the conference championship with the highest cumulative GPA.
On the court, Stiebinger was 5-13 overall playing 14 of those 18 matches at No. 2 singles. He also played at No. 1 doubles with both Kevin Zerath and Max Wichelhaus, going 7-13 overall.
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 16,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
The eleven members of the Capital One Academic All-America® Division II Baseball First-Team combined for a 3.85 grade point average.
For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.
