ST. LOUIS – Illinois State offensive lineman Drew Himmelman and quarterback Jake Kolbe were named to the 2018 Missouri Valley Football Conference All-Academic Team, announced by the league office Wednesday. League sports information directors voted on the team by designating 11 players for first-team honors and 11 players for second-team honors.
Nominees must be starters or important reserves; must have participated in at least 50 percent of his team's games and carry a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.20 (on a 4.0 scale). Nominees in graduate school must have a cumulative GPA of
3.20 or better both as an undergrad AND in graduate school. Additionally, nominees must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at your institution and must have completed at least one calendar year at your institution. True freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible athletic transfers are not eligible.Â
Himmelman was named an All-MVFC Second-Team selection earlier this week and earned second-team all-academic honors. The sophomore left tackle from Geneseo, Illinois, was critical part of the offensive line unit that made ISU the third-best scoring offense in the conference. Himmelman and the rest of his line mates led the way for All-MVFC First-Team selection James Robinson, who rushed for a league-leading 1,290 yards with 12 touchdowns. He was named MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week, after helping Robinson and Markel Smith each rush for over 100 yards, as the Redbirds tallied a season-best 409 yards on the ground against Southern Illinois. Himmelman maintains a 3.81 GPA in exercise science.
Kolbe earned all-academic honorable mention honors in his final season in a Redbird uniform. The Naperville, Illinois, native saw action in eight games at quarterback and completed 70.8 percent of passes for 452 yards with five touchdowns. A 2018 team captain and four-year letterwinner for the Redbirds, Kolbe threw three touchdown passes against South Dakota State in relief and ran for a touchdown to cap off a win over Southern Illinois. Kolbe holds a 3.67 GPA as a physical education/teacher education major and will begin his student teaching this fall before graduating in May.
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