BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Birmingham-Southern senior Zac Richards was named to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-American Third-Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-American Committee on Tuesday.

"Zac represents all that we hope our student athletes will be," BSC Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Graves said. "He is a relentless worker on the court and in the classroom."

Richards is majoring in Mathematics/Pre Engineering and has a 3.71 cumulative grade point average.    The Hoover, Ala., native was named CoSIDA Academic All-American All-District IV earlier this year and was listed on the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Academic Honor Roll the last three years.

On the court, Richards earned D3Hoops.com All-Region, NABC All-District and SCAC First-Team laurels in 2011-12 and was on the SCAC Honorable Mention All-Conference squad as sophomore.  He has started 23-of-24 games this season, averaging 14.9 points and 7.1 rebounds and is shooting 51 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the free throw line.  He has scored in double figures in 20-of-26 games with a season-high 33 points against Millsaps College and has five double-doubles.

Heading into the Panthers' first round Southern Athletic Association tournament game on Friday, Richards has 77 career starts and has played in 97 games, averaging 10.2 points, 11 points shy of 1000 points, and 5.4 rebounds per game. He has made 369-of-572 shots for 64.5 percent. He has scored 989 points and collected 521 rebounds.

The Panthers are 18-7 overall and 9-4 in the SAA heading into Friday's game against No. 6 seed Hendrix College at 8 p.m. in Danville, Ky.

FIRST TEAM
Name                       School                            Cl.   Hometown                     GPA    Major
Richie Bonney          Hobart                             Jr.    Norwich, N.Y.                 3.90    Philosophy, Pub Policy Studies

Colton Hunt (3)        Randolph                        Sr.   Whittier, N.C.                 3.94    Economics

Jason Norsen (3)      St. John Fisher                 Sr.   Hamburg, N.Y.                3.91    Accounting

Ryan Sheehan          Nichols                            Jr.    North Attleboro, Mass.    3.89    International Business

Brett Tester (1)          St. Scholistica                  Sr.   Andover, Minn.               4.00    Accounting & Finance

SECOND TEAM
Name                       School                            Cl.   Hometown                     GPA    Major
John Coleman          Clarkson                          So.  Potsdam, N.Y.                4.00    Mathematics

Brad Ford                 Nazareth                          Jr.    Victor, N.Y.                    3.80    Business Administration

Ben Johnson            Maine, Farmington            Jr.    Manchester, Maine          3.80    History of Political Theory

Mitchell Kates           Mass. Inst. Of Tech.         Sr.   Colts Neck, N.J.             3.52    Comp. Science & Engineering

James Lazarcik         Beloit                               Jr.    La Crescent, Minn.          3.75    Chemistry (Pre-Med)

THIRD TEAM
Name                       School                            Clr.  Hometown                     GPA    Major
Danny Brooks          Lebanon Valley                Sr.   Abingdon, Md.               3.41    Business Administration

Austin Fowler            Case Western Reserve      Sr.   Farmington Hills, Mich.    3.60    Biology

Mark Ghafari             Kalamazoo                       Jr.    Grosse Pointe, Mich.      3.78    Economics

Alex Greven              Emory                             Sr.   Winston-Salem, N.C.       3.78    Neuroscience & Behavior Bio.

Zac Richards            Birmingham Southern       Sr.   Hoover, Ala.                   3.71    Mathematics/Pre-Engineering