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