South Carolina Leads Way Again on SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll

Eighty Gamecock freshmen make the list; Gamecocks lead league with honorees on three of four lists in 2010-11

Dylan Thompson, modeling one of the new football jerseys for the 2011 football season, was one of four Gamecock football players and 80 freshmen student-athletes who made the 2010-11 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.

July 14, 2011

COLUMBIA, S.C. - For the fourth time in a row, South Carolina leads the way on the Southeastern Conference First-Year Academic Honor Roll (formerly known as the SEC Freshman Academic Honor Roll). It marks the third time in four chances during the 2010-11 academic year that the Gamecocks had the most athletes named to the league's honor rolls. The SEC releases the list for each overarching sports season (Fall, Winter and Spring) as well as the year-end one for first-year athletes.

In total, 630 student-athletes were named to the 2011 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll on Thursday by SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. Overall, the SEC honored 2,583 student-athletes who earned Academic Honor Roll recognition in 2010-11.

Each student-athlete must 1) have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or above at the nominating institution; 2) be on scholarship or a letter winner; 3) have completed 24 semester hours of non-remedial credit at the nominating institution; and 4) have been a member of the varsity team for the sport's entire NCAA Championship segment.

The 2011 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll is based on grades from the 2010-11 academic calendar.

The women's track and field/cross country team led the Gamecocks with 15 members on the team, while both men's track and women's swimming and diving placed 10. The full list of Gamecocks follows:

Baseball (4)
Greg Brodzinski
Patrick Harrington
Erik Payne
Drake Thomason

Men's Basketball (3)
Bruce Ellington
RJ Slawson
Eric Smith

Equestrian (8)
Jordan Brown
Alison Ceresani
Morgan Hale
Emma Johnson
Katie Kopf
Allie Kraybill
Samantha Nicholson
Rachel Roter