July 11, 2012

Park Ridge, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference announced on Wednesday 30 student-athletes from Illinois were among those who have been selected recipients of the Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award. The list includes student-athletes from every institution and 36 different sports who have earned a minimum grade-point average (GPA) of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year.

In February of 2008, Big Ten Faculty Representatives established a conference academic recognition to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. Similar to the Academic All-Big Ten honor, Distinguished Scholar Award recipients must be letterwinners in at least their second academic year at their institution. However, the Distinguished Scholar Award encompasses only student-athletes with a minimum GPA of 3.7 or higher for the previous academic year, excluding summer school. The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for a student-athlete's academic career.

The 2011-12 class of Distinguished Scholar Award recipients includes 85 student-athletes who maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA during the previous academic term.