Nov. 24, 2009
Ten members of the Texas A&M football team were named to the 2009 Academic All-Big 12 Football Team on Tuesday, including the 12th Man and two other players slated to be in the starting lineup against the Texas Longhorns on Thanksgiving Day.
Ryan O'Bryant, a senior fullback from Houston, earned first-team Academic All-Big 12 honors while pursuing his bachelor's degree in sport management. O'Bryant earned the coveted 12th Man start against the Longhorns, which is his fifth 12th Man start of 2009 and the seventh of his career.
Other starters earning a spot on the academic squad were senior offensive tackle Michael Shumard and sophomore Trent Hunter. Shumard, a first-team selection from Fort Hood, Texas, is pursuing his degree in educational human resource development, while Hunter, a second-team honoree from Katy, Texas, is in general studies.
Including O'Bryant and Shumard, Texas A&M had five players on the Academic All-Big 12 first team, which requires a 3.2 or higher grade point average. The others are senior Cole Graybill (agricultural communication/Stephenville, Texas), senior Jordan Peterson (sports management/Lexington, Texas) and senior Ryan Tannehill (biology/Big Spring, Texas).
Joining Hunter on the second team, which requires a GPA between 3.0-3.19, were junior Matt Allen (university studies/Spring, Texas), senior Derek Dumas (agricultural leadership/Crawford, Texas), sophomore Bradley Stephens (university studies/McAllen, Texas) and senior Jeff Wood (sports management/Houston, Texas).
Nominated by each institution's director of student-athlete support services and the media relations offices, the football academic all-league squad consisted of 101 first team members combined with 68 on the second team. To qualify student-athletes must maintain a 3.00 GPA or higher either cumulative or the two previous semesters and must have participated in 60 percent of their team's scheduled contests. Freshmen and transfers are not eligible in their first year of academic residence. Senior student-athletes who have participated for a minimum of two years and meet all the criteria except percent of participation are also eligible.