Jan. 27, 2010

RICHMOND, Va. - Four UMass football players were named to the CAA Academic All-Conference Team for 2009. Senior offensive lineman Jared Chivers, sophomore H-Back Emil Igwenagu, junior offensive lineman John Ihne and senior safety Jeromy Miles were all honored for their academic and athletic accolades this past year.

All four players were starters or significant reserves who maintained a GPA over 3.00 over their entire college careers.

Here is the release from the CAA

Villanova linebacker Osayi Osunde, the 2009 CAA Football Student-Athlete of the Year, headlines a list of 106 CAA Football Academic All-Conference honorees for the 2009 season.

Osunde, who maintains a 3.959 grade point average and is working towards his Master’s Degree in Human Resource Development, helped lead the Wildcats to their first NCAA Division I Football National Championship in 2009.  The Bloomsburg, Pa., native was a 2009 Second Team All-CAA Football selection at linebacker and earned recognition from the Philadelphia Inquirer as an Academic All-Area Team member.  Now a three-time Academic All-CAA Football honoree, Osunde earned ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District honors during the 2009 season and was the Villanova Athletic Department’s Senior Student-Athlete of the Year in 2009.

Osunde finished his career as a three-time All-CAA Football selection, including First Team honors following the 2008 season.  Serving as one of Villanova’s three captains during the 2009 season, Osunde led a defensive unit which ranked  No. 3 in the country against the run and was among the Top-10 nationally in scoring defense.  Osunde finished the 2009 season was a career-high 82 total tackles and a career-best 7.5 tackles for loss.  In his four-year career the linebacker tallied 242 total tackles and made 18.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage, including five sacks.  The three-time Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Team member was also awarded his second-straight Philadelphia Inquirer Academic All-Area Performer of the Year honor following the 2009 NCAA Championship season for Villanova.

CAA Football cited 106 student-athletes - 63 on offense and 43 on defense - as members of its 2009 Academic All-Conference team.

To be eligible for the CAA Football Academic All-Conference Team, a player must be a starter or important reserve and have a cumulative GPA of 3.00-or-better (on a 4.00 scale) for his entire academic career.  A transfer is not eligible unless he has completed one (1) full year at his institution.  First-year freshmen are not eligible.  Voting for the Student-Athlete of the Year honor is conducted by the 12 CAA Football Sports Information Directors from the 2009 season.

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Following is the 2009 CAA Football Academic All-Conference Team: