The Academic All-America Team Member of the Year is the annual most outstanding singular athlete of the set of specific sport athletes selected the All-America Team Member of the Year for their specific sport. This is a list of the annual selection by College Sports Communicators (CSC; known before the 2022–23 school year as the College Sports Information Directors of America, or CoSIDA) and its Academic All-America sponsor of the individual athlete selected as the most outstanding of the approximately 2,000 annual Academic All-America selections.
Since the 2019 awards, one winner has been chosen for each of four divisions. Three of the divisions correspond directly to the three divisions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)—Division I, Division II, and Division III. A fourth division, introduced with the 2019 award cycle, is for National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) members. The College Division currently includes U.S. four-year institutions that are not NCAA or NAIA members, Canadian universities and colleges, and two-year colleges. The College Division was introduced in 1996, covering not only those institutions in today's College Division but also NCAA institutions outside Division I and NAIA members. After the 2011 award cycle, NCAA Divisions II and III were spun off from the College Division and given their own Academic All-America teams. NCAA Division I has had its own Academic All-America team since 1996—originally as the University Division, and since 2012 under its own name. Between 1988 and 1995, only one winner was chosen per year across all institutions participating in the program. The Academic All-America program recognizes the combined athletic and academic excellence of the nation's top student-athletes.
Currently, each team selects Academic All-District honorees in each sport across the United States and Canada. First team All-District honorees make the All-America team ballots. Currently, all 16 Academic All-American teams (men's and women's basketball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's track & field, men's baseball, women's softball, men's American football, women's volleyball, men's and women's swimming & diving, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's at-large teams) have one Academic All-American of the Year for each NCAA division and NAIA. One of these 16 sport-by-sport Academic All-America Team Members of the Year is selected as the overall Academic All-America of the Year for each division.
Five individuals have been named winners twice—Sarah Pavan of Nebraska in 2007 and 2008 for what was then called the University Division, Maryanne Gong of MIT in Division III and Leah Esposito of Carroll College in Montana in the College Division, both in 2016 and 2017, Giovanna Tapigliani of Missouri Baptist in the NAIA in 2021 and 2022, and Caitlin Clark of Iowa in Division I in 2023 and 2024.
Tables of winners
Single program (1987–1995)
+Academic All-America Team Members of the Year (1987–1995) Year Winner SchoolSport 1987–88 Basketball 1988–89 Wrestling 1989–90 Basketball 1990–91 Tennis 1991–92 Stanford Football 1992–93 Football 1993–94 Oberlin Tennis1994–95 Basketball Football
Two-division era (1996–2010) +Academic All-America Team Members of the Year (1996–2010) Year University Division College Division Winner SchoolSport Winner SchoolSport 1995–96 NC State BasketballChris PalmerSaint John's (MN)Football 1996–97 Florida FootballJulie RoeMillikinBasketball 1997–98 FootballBrad GrayMITFootball 1998–99 FootballKelly SchadeSimpsonSoftball 1999–2000 Marshall FootballKorey CoonIllinois WesleyanBasketball 2000–01 BasketballEmily BlossEmporia StateBasketball 2001–02 BasketballT.J. HessWidenerFootball 2002–03 GymnasticsAshley RowattKenyonSwimming 2003–04 BasketballKristen ShieldsWhitworthTrack & field 2004–05 FootballCarli DaleJuniataVolleyball 2005–06 SoccerJosh LambersonNorthwest Missouri StateFootball 2006–07 VolleyballJamie WolfClarionDiving 2007–08 VolleyballTroy RuthsWashington (MO)Basketball 2008–09 Track & field/Cross countryGreg MicheliMount UnionFootball 2009–10 SwimmingJessica PixlerSeattle PacificTrack & field/Cross country 2010–11 BasketballShannon Gagne Track & field/Cross country
Four-division era (2011–present) +Academic All-America Team Members of the Year (2011–present) Year Division I Division II Division III College/NAIA Winner School Sport Winner School Sport Winner School Sport Winner School Sport 2011–12 Alabama Golf Concordia (MN) Baseball Wheaton Baseball/Soccer Lee Soccer 2012–13 Alabama Football Ashland Basketball Randolph (VA) Basketball Lindsey Wilson 2013–14 Alabama Gymnastics Bentley Wisconsin–Oshkosh Cross country/Track & field Martin Methodist 2014–15 Penn State Wrestling Clarion Diving Clarkson Basketball/Baseball Park Volleyball 2015–16 North Dakota State Football Ferris State Football MIT Cross country/Track & field Carroll (MT) Cross country, Track & field 2016–17 Texas A&M Swimming Saint Leo Golf (2) (2) 2017–18 Stanford Swimming Western State Colorado Cross country, Track & field Nebraska Wesleyan Basketball Cornerstone Basketball 2018–19 Track & field Merrimack Lacrosse MIT Volleyball Swimming Field hockey 2019–20 Football Michigan Tech Skiing Denison Swimming Concordia (NE) Basketball 2020–21 Alabama Queens (NC) Swimming Virginia Wesleyan Softball Missouri Baptist Volleyball 2021–22 Aliyah Boston South Carolina Basketball Ashland Track & field Esther Seeland MessiahTrack & field (2) 2022–23 Caitlin Clark Iowa Colorado Mines Football Kenadee Wayt Mount Union Mackenzie Selvius Spring Arbor Soccer 2023–24 Caitlin Clark Gannon Basketball Wartburg Football UHSP Basketball 2024–25 Gretchen Walsh Virginia Swimming Slippery Rock Football Middlebury Lacrosse Oregon Tech Baseball 2025–26 Stanford Soccer Missouri S&T Track & field East Texas Baptist Volleyball SCAD Savannah Swimming
See also Walter Byers Scholarship
Notes
References
External links Academic All-America information page All-Time list