ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — Augustana senior forward
Ben Ryan (Washington HS, Washington, Ill.) put his name into elite company today when he was named to the NCAA Division III Academic All-America Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Ryan was a third-team selection and he becomes the 161st student-athlete in Augustana history to win the coveted honor.
Ryan is the son of Laurie and Jeff Ryan of Washington, Illinois. He carries a 3.54 grade point average with biochemistry and pre-medicine majors, as well as minors in mathematics and chemistry. On the court, he leads the nation's top-ranked team (26-1) in scoring (14.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg) this season.
A 6' 5" forward, Ryan has put together a tremendous career. He is the school record holder for career games played with 114 and has started all but one of those, more than anyone in the program's history. In addition, he has played in 92 victories and only Bruce Hamming, a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, has played in more (94).
Ryan is currently the ninth-leading scorer (1,328) and fifth-leading rebounder (767) in school history. He was named to the first-team of the All-CCIW team last week for the second straight year.
In 2012-13, Ryan became the CCIW's first-ever Freshman of the Year and topped that off by winning both regional and national Rookie of the Year honors from
D3hoops.com. Last year, he co-captained a 27-5 CCIW champion and national runner-up Viking outfit. He's been Augustana's leading rebounder each of the last three seasons and will finish his career as a three-time All-CCIW performer and a four-time academic all-conference honoree.
Off the court, Ben has been involved with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, for whom he serves as Vice President, and Student Athlete Advisory Council. He's also volunteered at Hope Tree Family Services and for the Augustana Walk for Water and has served as a peer mentor and community advisor as well.
Augustana has long been a prominent player in the Academic All-America program and currently ranks seventh in the nation among colleges and universities at all levels, with 161 selections. The Vikings are tops in both the CCIW and the state of Illinois and third in NCAA Division III. Ryan is the first Augustana men's basketball player to earn the award since Matt Pelton in 2010 and he is the eighth in the program's history to win the distinction.
NCAA DIVISION III
Academic All-American of the Year: Jared Holmquist, Trine
FIRST TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Jordan Daley CALVIN Sr. Grand Rapids, Mich. 3.83 Psychology
Lucas Hausman BOWDOIN Sr. Westport, Conn. 3.53 Economics
Jared Holmquist TRINE Sr. Reed City, Mich. 3.90 Accounting
DeShawn Lowman NEUMANN Jr. Wilmington, Del. 4.00 Criminal justice
Daniel Purvlicis WABASH Sr. Noblesville, Ind. 3.87 Rhetoric
SECOND TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Dillon Bender MOUNT ALOYSIUS Sr. Seneca, S.C. 3.98 Business
Tyler Duffy ROSE-HULMAN Sr. Fishers, Ind. 3.96 Software engineering/
economics
Trey Gordon GALLAUDET Sr. Talladega, Ala. 3.78 Government /communications
Michael Megafu ST. JOSEPH'S (NY) Sr. Jamaica, N.Y. 3.83 Biology
Jack Serbin CARNEGIE MELLON Jr. New Albany, Ohio 3.79 Business administration
THIRD TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Todd Bonheyo GALLAUDET Sr. Frederick, Md. 3.98 Mathematics
Mitch Ford NAZARETH Sr. Victor, N.Y. 3.36 Business administration
Ben Gardner HOPE Sr. Carmel, Ind. 3.70 Public accounting
Ben Ryan AUGUSTANA (IL) Sr. Washington, Ill. 3.54 Biochemistry pre-medicine
George Valle WHITWORTH Sr. Bellevue, Wash. 3.79 Marketing
