Smeulders: Div. I-AAA Scholar Athlete Team

Smeulders Named to Division I-AAA Scholar-Athlete Team

CLEVELAND, Ohio – University of Portland junior forward Robin Smeulders was one of 10 men’s basketball student-athletes in the nation named to the seventh annual Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team, the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) announced on Thursday.

“It’s an honor for the Division I-AAA ADA to annually award these academic all-star teams,” stated Jean Lenti Ponsetto, chair of the Division I-AAA ADA Scholar-Athlete Team Selection Committee and athletics director at DePaul University. “These student-athletes personify the definition of student-athlete, both on and off the court. Our Association is proud to be represented by such a strong group of student-athletes.”

Smeulders started all 32 games during the 2008-09 season for the Pilots and averaged 10.6 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. He helped Portland to a 19-13 overall record and the program’s first postseason appearance since 1996 as the team was invited to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. He was an All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection and also earned WCC All-Academic honors for the second straight season. Smeulders currently has a 3.25 cumulative grade-point average as a marketing and management major.

Basketball players from all Division I-AAA ADA member institutions are eligible for these prestigious awards. Each of the nominees was required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.20 (on a 4.00 scale) in undergraduate study and have been a starter or important reserve with legitimate athletics credentials. He/she must have reached junior athletics and academic standing at the nominated institution (true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible athletics transfers are not eligible) and have completed at least three academic semesters/five quarters at the nominated institution. Nominated student-athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of the team's games listed on the nomination form.

A special Review Committee of Division I-AAA athletics directors were responsible for selecting the winners. Completing this task were Committee Chair Jean Lenti Ponsetto, DePaul; Pete Carlon, Texas Arlington; Don DiJulia, St. Joseph’s; Gene Doris, Fairfield; Bill Husak, Loyola Marymount; Kelly Mehrtens, North Carolina Wilmington; John Planek, Loyola (Ill.); and Scott Street, Texas A&M Corpus Christi.

Additionally, from the Scholar-Athlete teams, one male and female student-athlete was selected as the Division I-AAA Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Receiving the women’s honor was Jessica Pike, a wellness, health promotion & injury prevention major from Oakland, with a 3.93 GPA; while the men’s award went to Jason Holsinger, an economics major from Evansville, with a 3.89 GPA.

About Division I-AAA ADA: Now in its eighth year, the Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association's mission is to enhance initiatives common to its Division I-AAA membership (the 95 Division I institutions that do not sponsor football), in particular, aspects related to their flagship basketball programs. For more information on the Division I-AAA ADA, please visit www.div1aaa-ada.com. The Division I-AAA ADA is administered by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), which is in its 44th year. For more information on NACDA and the 11 professional associations that fall under its umbrella, please visit www.nacda.com.