Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-America Release
As great as Kyle Cooper has been on the basketball court, he's approached his academic work with equal skill and detail through his collegiate career. Wednesday afternoon, he was singularly recognized for excellence in both.
Cooper, a senior forward on the Hillsdale College men's basketball team, was named the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year for Division II. He was selected for the honor by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
In addition to averaging more than 22 points and 9 rebounds per game, Cooper has ranked among Hillsdale College's best student-athletes throughout his four-year career. He is an accounting major with an overall grade point average of 3.8. Both his athletic productivity and academic acumen are taken into consideration by voters for this award.
As part of his Academic All-American of the Year honor, Cooper was named First-Team Academic All-American by CoSIDA for the second year in a row. A total of five players nationwide were named to the first team and Cooper was the leading vote-getter of those five.
The 2015-16 GLIAC Player of the Year, Cooper was a GLIAC Commissioner's Award winner in 2014-15 and has been named to the GLIAC Academic Excellence Team three times. On the court, he's produced an unprecedented two 40-point games this season and has exceeded 30 points in a game five times.