Wayne Blackshear’s Earns Capital One District 2 Academic All-District Honors

Mark BlankenbakerFebruary 6, 2015

University of Louisville men’s basketball senior Wayne Blackshear is one of five student-athletes on the Capital One District 2 Academic All-District men’s basketball first team, the College Sports Information Directors of America announced Thursday afternoon. Blackshear earns the honor for the second consecutive year. He is one of three ACC player selected to the eight all-district teams.

To be eligible for the honor, which recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom, a student-athlete must maintain at least a 3.3 cumulative GPA. Inclusion on the all-district team allows him to be considered for Capital One Academic All-America honors.

The Chicago, Ill., native earned the 2013 NCAA Elite 89 Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s championships. Blackshear, who is majoring in communications, boasts a 3.4 cumulative grade-point average. He was a member of the 2013 UofL Athletic Director’s Honor Roll while helping the men’s basketball team produced a 3.33 combined GPA for the 2014 fall semester, the second-highest ever for the Cardinals.

Through 22 games this season, the forward is averaging a career-best 11.2 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. He has 32 steals and just 15 turnovers in 680 minutes played. Blackshear scored a career-high 31 points against Cal State Northridge, adding six rebounds and four steals while burying a career-best 6-of-11 three-pointers. He leads the team in free throw percentage, connecting on 76.6 percent from the line. The team captain has scored in double figures in 39 career games and ranks fourth on the team in scoring this season.

Other student-athletes on the five-man all-District 2 team consist of Lafayette College’s Seth Hinrichs, Loyola’s (Md.) Franz Rassman, George Washington’s John Kopriva, and Maryland Eastern Shore’s Ishaq Pitt. The academic all-district teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada, with District 2 encompassing NCAA Division I schools from the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Kentucky, West Virginia, Delaware, Maryland as well as the District of Columbia.

First-team Academic All-District ® honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first-, second- and third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.