ST. LOUIS – Illinois State defensive tackle Jason Lewan was among the thirty-seven student-athletes who highlight the 2020 Missouri Valley Football Honor Roll, as announced by the league office Wednesday. Those 37 student-athletes earned the league's highest academic achievement by capturing the Missouri Valley Football Conference President's Council Academic Excellence Award.
The President's Council Academic Excellence Award requires a minimum 3.5 cumulative grade point average (through Fall 2020 semester) and participation in athletics a minimum of two years. The student-athlete must be scheduled to graduate by the end of the summer of 2021. Also, 281 student-athletes received the league's Commissioner's Academic Excellence Award, which requires a minimum GPA of 3.2 for the previous two semesters (freshmen are not eligible.)
Lewan is a three-year starter on the defensive line for the Redbirds and started 26 consecutive games during the 2018 and 2019 seasons. He started the first two games of the spring 2021 season, before suffering a season-ending injury. Lewan is working towards a bachelor's degree in marketing and maintains a 3.76 GPA.
In addition, the Missouri Valley Football Conference has announced its 2020-21 Honor Roll, which recognizes academic achievement of student-athletes. To qualify for the Honor Roll, a student-athlete must have recorded a minimum 3.0 grade point average for a specified term (Fall 2020 or Spring 2021), must have been a member of the football team, and must have a minimum of 12 hours of enrollment during the fall. Nearly 800 student-athletes earned Honor Roll recognition, including 74 current and former Redbirds.
ILLINOIS STATE HONOREES:
PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL ACADEMIC AWARD - Jason Lewan
COMMISSIONER'S ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE AWARD - Cole Anderson, Peyton Asche, Drew Bones, Nate Borders, Peter Bussone, Jacob Carl, Evan Day, Spencer DeForest, Josh Dinga, Trey Georgie, Michael Gomez, Taylor Grimes, Stephen Halusan, Drew Himmelman, Jason Lewan, Mitchell Lewis, Joey Lombardi, Joey Malinowski, Timothy McCloyn II, Zach Mueller, Austin Nagel, Tyler Pennington, Jacob Powell, Braden Price, Jack Takerian, Tanner Taula, Dalton Tevis, Zeke Vandenburgh, Nigel White, Kenton Wilhoit
HONOR ROLL - Cole Anderson, Peyton Asche, Jack Baltz, Micah Barnhart, Jacob Bellizzi, JT Bohlken, Drew Bones, Nate Borders, Jeff Bowens, Aidan Bresnahan, Justin Bromagen, Peter Bussone, Jacob Carl, Jalen Carr, Javon Charles, Peyton Cramer, D'Marco Cross, Evan Day, Spencer DeForest, Carter DeGraaf, Josh Dinga, Blake Fehrmann, Daniel Forystek, Dillon Gearhart, Trey Georgie, Michael Gomez, Taylor Grimes, Stephen Halusan, Trenton Hatfield, Nick Hesse, Drew Himmelman, Clayton Isbell, Peyton Jones, Jeremiah Jordan, Jabari Khepera, Rashad Lampkin, Jason Lewan, Mitchell Lewis, Joey Lombardi, Joey Malinowski, Timothy McCloyn II, LaVoise-Deontae McCoy, Jarel Miller, Zach Mueller, Austin Nagel, Jude Okolo, Robert Parker-Crawford, Kirby Peine, Tyler Pennington, Steven Podkulski, Jacob Powell, Brandon Price, Braden Price, Shannon Reid, Eric Rogers, John Ridgeway, Kacper Rutkiewicz, Adam Saul, Brett Spaulding, Jack Takerian, Darrell Talley, Tanner Taula, Dalton Tevis, Jakob Thomas, Zeke Vandenburgh, Darius Walker, Jackson Waring, Franky West, Nigel White, Kenton Wilhoit, Daniel Witherspoon, Joshua Wright, Hunter Zambrano, Pete Zuccollo
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