SU's 16 Leads League Academic Team
2/6/2009 6:45:21 PM | Football
For the second year in a row, 16 members of the Orange football team were named to the BIG EAST All-Academic Team. The Orange had the most student-athletes named to the league's academic honor squad, which included 95 student-athletes with a grade point average of at least a 3.0 who have completed at least two semesters of academic work and earned a letter in 2008. Since the recognition began in 1992, 69 Syracuse football student-athletes have been honored on the conference's academic team 127 times.
Seniors Ryan Durand, Jake Flaherty, Ben Maljovec, Patrick Shadle and Bruce Williams earned the honor for the fourth time in their careers and join seven other Orange student-athletes as the only four-time honorees in Syracuse history.
Senior Paul Chiara earned a spot on the team for the third time in his career, while A.J. Brown, Vincenzo Giruzzi, Jim McKenzie, Andrew Robinson and Derrell Smith were recognized for the second time. First-time honorees include Oliver Haney, Mike Holmes, Ryan Howard, Dalton Phillips, Niko Rechul and Kevyn Scott.
The 2008 football squad beings spring practice on March 23 and the annual Spring game will be held on April 18.
| Position | Year | Position | Hometown | Major |
| A.J. Brown | Sr. | SS | Bealton, Va. | Information management and technology |
| Paul Chiara | Sr. | SS | Mountain Lakes, N.J. | Geology/Finance |
| Ryan Durand | Sr. | OG | Leominster, Mass. | Health and exercise science |
| Jake Flaherty | Sr. | LB | Wakefield, R.I. | American studies |
| VIncenzo Giruzzi | Gr. | DE | Utica, N.Y. | Information Management |
| Oliver Haney | RF | OL | Clark, N.J. | Physical education |
| Mike Holmes | So. | CB/S | Jacksonville, Fla. | Psychology |
| Ryan Howard | Sr. | CB | Carson, Calif. | Communication and rhetorical studies |
| Ben Maljovec | Gr. | TE | Warren, Pa. | Information management |
| Jim McKenzie | So. | C | Springfield, Pa. | Biochemistry |
| Dalton Phillips | Sr. | C | Clancy, Mont. | Political science |
| Niko Rechul | Sr. | K | Huntington Station, N.Y. | Finance/Economics |
| Andrew Robinson | Jr. | QB | Baltimore, Md. | Finance |
| Kevyn Scott | RF | S/CB | Tamarac, Fla. | Information management and technology |
| Derrell Smith | So. | LB | New Castle, Del. | Marketing information management |
| Bruce Williams | Sr. | SS | Syracuse, N.Y. | Communication and rhetorical studies/Child and Family Studies |
