Nov. 28, 2005
ST. LOUIS -
Illinois State seniors Jonathan Denley and Stafford Davis were two of the 33 student-athletes named to the Gateway Football Conference All-Academic Team on Monday with Denley claiming first team honors, while Davis was selected to the second team.
With Denley earning first team accolades, Illinois State has had at least one first team member on the league's all-academic team in the last eight seasons. Head coach Denver Johnson praised his well-rounded student-athletes.
"I'm equally as proud of Jonathan and Stafford being a part of the all-academic team as I am of our guys being on national watch lists," Johnson said. "I think that speaks to the values that we embrace in our program and those guys have been great performers on the field, great citizens in the community and they have been great students in the classroom as well."
Denley played in all 11 games for the Redbirds, including eight starting assignments. He has been a member of the AFNI athletics honor roll every semester at Illinois State. Throughout his Redbird career, he has been used primarily as a blocking tight end, but finished the 2005 season with 10 catches for 80 yards. Denley is majoring in agribusiness and carries a 3.65 grade point average.
Davis, who started all 46 games of his collegiate career, has been a staple for the Redbird offensive line the last four seasons. Like Denley, Davis has been a member of the AFNI athletics honor roll every semester at Illinois State. This season, Davis made the transition to center and blocked for the most prolific offense in Redbird history. ISU averaged 39.2 points per game and a league best 40.7 points per conference game, while also compiling a league-best 477.5 total yards of offense per game, which also ranked No. 4 nationally. The 2004 GFC All-Academic Honorable Mention selection is majoring in business administration and has a 3.03 GPA.
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 academic and athletic standing at their institutions (freshmen are not eligible) and must have completed at least one full academic year at their institution. League sports information directors voted on the team by designating 11 players for first-team honors and 11 players for second-team honors.
The league office will continue to announce post-season awards when the conference unveils the all-conference team on Tuesday.
