Tusculum’s NeSmith, Newberry’s Gantt Named To Academic All-America Football Team

TOWNSEND, Md. - Tusculum College senior tight end Jarrell NeSmith and Newberry College senior quarterback Brandon Gantt have been named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America® College Division II Football Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

NeSmith was named to the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-America® College Division II Football First Team.

NeSmith earns Academic All-America® for a second straight year and becomes only the fourth Tusculum student-athlete to garner First Team recognition. He also becomes only the second Pioneer to be a two-time Academic All-American®. He joins former women's soccer standout Denise Fliesser as the only two-time Academic All-American® in school history. He was named to the Academic All-America® Second Team last year.

NeSmith, a 6-2, 225-pound senior from Russellville, Ala., is closing out one of the most decorated football careers in Tusculum history, both on and off the field. The Pre-Medicine major has a 3.86 cumulative grade point average and is a member of the Tusculum President's List, Dean's List, Charles Oliver Gray List, South Atlantic Conference Commissioner's Honor Roll and the TC Athletic Director's Honor Roll.

On the field, he is a two-time All-SAC First Team selection, including this year where he leads the league in receiving yards per game, averaging 67.8 yards per contest. NeSmith has posted 56 catches for 678 yards (5th in TC history) and three touchdowns. He was also named to the Daktronics NCAA Division II All-Super Region 2 First Team for a second straight year.

Jarrell NeSmith

Brandon Gantt

He earned All-America honors in 2008 from three organizations as he posted 67 receptions for 635 yards and seven touchdowns and was also an All-Conference and All-Region selection.

Earlier this month, he was also named the SAC Scholar Athlete for Football as NeSmith becomes the first three-time recipient of the award in conference history. It also marked the fifth straight year that a Tusculum player has earned SAC Scholar Athlete Football honors and seventh in the last eight seasons.

NeSmith has wrapped up his career with 158 receptions (3rd in TC history) for 1,670 yards (4th in TC history), both school records for a tight end.

He was selected as the 2008-09 recipient SAC Presidents Award, becoming only the second football player in the history of the award to earn the conference's most prestigious honor.

Last month, he was named as one of the 16 national finalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy. He is the only NCAA Division II representative on the 2009 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Team, which includes Heisman Trophy candidates Tim Tebow (Florida) and Colt McCoy (Texas).

Earlier this fall, he was also a Southeast Region representative for the 2008-09 Division II Commissioner's Scholar Athlete Award and was a national semifinalist for the American Football Coaches Association's Good Works Team.

Gantt was a second team honoree.

Gantt is a senior quarterback from Lexington, S.C., with a 3.96 grade point average while majoring in Early Childhood Education. He was a second team All-South Atlantic Conference honoree and will participate in the East Coast Bowl all-star game in Petersburg, Va., this weekend.

Gantt is only the fifth CoSIDA Academic All-American in the history of Newberry College and the first Newberry football player to earn Academic All-American honors since Mark Weeks earned second team laurels in 1982.

He finished the season second in the SAC in total offense with 2,324 passing yards and 287 rushing yards for a total of 2,611 offensive yards. He is only the fourth player in Newberry history to have 2,500 or more yards of total offense in a season and had the third best season in that category in school history.

A two-time ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree, Gantt ended his career with 4,484 yards of total offense, which ranks fifth in Newberry history and his 3,716 passing yards are fourth best in the school's history. He also accounted for 22 touchdowns this season and earned SAC Offensive Player of the Week on three occasions.

Gantt was one of 15 Division II players named a national semifinalist for the prestigious Campbell Trophy earlier this season and has been named to the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll in two previous years. He is a member of the Southern Early Childhood Education Association, the Future Educators Association, the Newberry College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Kappa Delta Pi International Honors Society, Newberry College Dean's List (2 years), the Newberry County Reading Council and is also a mentor to young students.

Gantt is the only student-athlete from the state of South Carolina to be named to this year's Academic All-American team in either the University or College Divisions.

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average 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 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.