Poythress Named Academic All-District

 Kentucky senior men’s basketball player Alex Poythress has been named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-District Team and is eligible to earn Academic All-America honors. 

The CoSIDA Academic All-District teams recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. First Team Academic All-District honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot where First, Second, and Third-team All-America honorees will be selected later this month.

Poythress’ honor is the first of his career. The Clarksville, Tenn., native graduated in just three years with a degree in business marketing. He earned a 3.517 undergraduate grade-point average and is now pursuing a master’s of science in kinesiology and health promotion with an emphasis on sport leadership. He finished his first semester of grad school with a 4.0 GPA.

He has appeared on the SEC Academic Honor Roll during every year of college. He is also a two-time Arthur Ashe, Jr., Sports Scholar and has been named to the Athletic Director’s honor roll three times, which honors the student-athlete with the highest GPA of his team.

In addition to the CoSIDA honor, Poythress was tabbed as one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award honoring students who excel on the court, in the classroom and in the community.

Poythress is averaging 10.0 points and a team-high 6.6 rebounds per game for the 18-6 Wildcats during his final season at Kentucky. He recently became just the 15th player in program history to amass more than 800 points, 500 rebounds and 70 blocks in his career.  

He has appeared in more than 100 career games and made 54 starts. Poythress’ career averages included 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

Poythress is seeking to become the first Kentucky men’s basketball player since Mark Pope in 1995 to earn Academic All-America honors. Pope was a third-team selection that season. Kentucky has garnered 12 all-time honors by 10 different players since 1966. Former greats Louie Dampier and Bob Guyette are two-time Academic All-Americans.