AUSTIN, Texas --- Four Tusculum University student-athletes have been named to the 2022 NCAA Division II Academic All-District 2 football first team as selected by the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA).
Earning Academic All-District honors for the Pioneers are punter Andrew Cantrell, long-snapper Josh Curray, and defensive backs and twin brothers Adrian and Andrae Robinson.
The 2022 Academic All-District® football teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.
District 2 is comprised of colleges and universities representing the South Atlantic Conference, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Gulf South Conference. To be eligible, a student-athlete must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 or higher, must be at least a sophomore and played in 50 percent of their team's games.
Cantrell, a graduate student from Sparta, Tennessee, becomes the first 4-time Academic All-District selection in program history. He graduated from Tusculum last spring with Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. He finished with a 3.7 GPA and is working on his MBA at Tusculum. He is a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Athletic Director's Honor Roll, Dean's List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List.
Cantrell has been the second team punter on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® team in each of the last two seasons. He earned All-SAC Mountain Division first team honors as he finished fifth in the league in punting averaging 41.0 yards (27th in NCAA II) on his 58 attempts. His 24 punts inside the 20 were second in the league and led the SAC with 20 fair catches. He only had four punts result in touchback and did not have a kick blocked this season.
He tallied 13 punts over 50 yards including a career-long 70-yarder at Mars Hill, which is the seventh-longest in school history. He had two games where he recorded five punts inside the 20 with those coming against Chowan and Mars Hill.
Cantrell finished his Tusculum career as the program's all-time leader in punt attempts (246), punting yards (9587) and punts inside the 20 (82). His career average of 39.0 yards per punt is the seventh-best average by a Pioneer.
The Robinson brothers (Covington, Ga.) also return to the Academic All-District first team for the Pioneers.
Andrae Robinson has a 3.84 GPA while majoring in sport management. He is a member of the Athletic Director's Honor Roll, SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Dean's List and Charles Oliver Gray Honors List. He played in 10 games this year where he finished with 26 tackles including 24 solo stops. He also posted a fumble recovery and made three interceptions including one at Catawba which was returned for a school-record 97-yard touchdown.
Adrian Robinson is majoring in psychology and has a 3.87 GPA. He is a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Charles Oliver Gray Honors List, Dean's List and Athletic Director's Honor Roll. He is tied for the team-lead with his brother with three interceptions. He has made 21 tackles including one behind the line of scrimmage. He has forced a fumble and recovered another. He and his brother recorded one interception each in the same game on two occasions in 2021.
Curray, a sophomore from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, earns his first Academic All-District laurel. He has a 3.72 GP while majoring in environmental science. He is a member of the Charles Oliver Gray Honors List, SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll, Dean's List and Athletic Director's Honor Roll. He was also a 2021-22 recipient of the D2ADA Academic Achievement Award.
He earned All-SAC second team honors this year where he appeared in eight games for the Pioneers were all of his long snaps on the TU punt team were on target without a block. TU finished the season ranked 20th in the country in net punting (37.75) and 37th nationally in punt return defense (5.19 ypr).
The Pioneers went 8-3 on the season and finished runner-up in the SAC Mountain Division.
The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes football honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA. Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First and second team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced in December.
The Division II and III CSC Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2022-2023 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs.
