Illinois States Neil Plank received his second academic honor of the season when he was named to the 2004 Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Second Team Thursday.
With the honor, Plank became the first Redbird to be named to the Valley Scholar-Athlete Team since 1999 when both Tarise Bryson and Sean Riley were recognized.
The criteria for the Missouri Valley Conferences Scholar-Athlete Team voting parallels the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) standards for Academic All-America voting. Nominees must be starters or important reserves with at least a 3.00 cumulative grade-point average (4.0 scale). Student-athletes must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen were not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at the institution.
Plank has played in all 25 games with 16 starts for the Redbirds. He ranks sixth on the team in scoring at 5.3 points per game and is second on the team in rebounding with 4.3 boards per contest.
Plank is also a member of the deans list and the AFNI Athletics Honor Roll.
