Spartanburg, S.C. -- United Soccer Coaches announced the Team Academic Award winners on Thursday, with four Southern Conference men's soccer teams earning the honor, including ETSU, Furman, Mercer, and UNCG.
The award was created in 1996 to recognize student athletes’ commitment to excellence in the classroom and for a team to be considered for the pretigious honor, it must have a composite team grade point average of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) for all team members who appear on the official NCAA, NAIA, NCCAA or junior college roster forms for the fall season. A total of 609 soccer teams (224 men, 385 women) posted a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher, thereby earning the academic award for the 2020-21 academic year. Of that total, 95 schools had both their men’s and women’s programs recognized.
The Buccaneers, who have received the accolade for the third straight year and the ninth time in the last 10 years, generated a team grade point average of 3.58 in 2020-21. The Paladins were also one of the four teams selected as Team Academic Award winners, with Furman collecting their 10th accolade in the last 14 years.
Following a team-wide GPA of 3.31, the Bears were honored for the 13th consecutive year and 14th time since 2009. UNCG secured Team Academic Award accolades as well, with the Spartans clinching their seventh award in the last nine years.
UNCG (6-2-1, 1-0 SoCon) will travel to Conway, South Carolina on Tuesday for a match against Coastal Carolina at 7 p.m. ET, while Mercer (3-4-1, 1-0-1 SoCon) travels to Rock Hill, South Carolina on Tuesday for a match against Winthrop at 6 p.m ET. ETSU (2-3-2, 0-1-1 SoCon) will travel to Blacksburg, Virginia on Wedneday for a match against Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. ET, while Furman (2-5, 1-1 SoCon) travels to Charleston, South Carolina on Wednesday for a match against the College of Charleston at 6 p.m. ET.