Honoring Cowboy Football Graduates

May 08, 2020 | Cowboy Football

STILLWATER - Spring commencement ceremonies have been postponed due to the global pandemic, but it still bears noting that six Oklahoma State football student-athletes would have walked across the stage this weekend. The group consists of Teven Jenkins (sociology), Larry Joubert (university studies), Dayton Metcalf (marketing), Philip Redwine-Bryant (management), Dillon Stoner (marketing) and Rodarius Williams (university studies).

Since Mike Gundy took over as head coach in 2005, 332 OSU football players have earned their degree. The list of graduates from the 2019 team, some of which already had their degree before this weekend:

Tyrell Alexander
Matt Ammendola
Bryce Balous
Bryce Brown
A.J. Green
Devin Harper
Kevin Henry
Teven Jenkins
Larry Joubert
Matt Kegel
Marcus Keyes
Dayton Metcalf
Cameron Murray
Philip Redwine-Bryant
Ry Schneider
Mike Scott
Dillon Stoner
Rodarius Williams
Johnny Wilson
Landon Wolf

In addition to graduating its players, the Oklahoma State football program had 20 honorees named to the 2019 Academic All-Big 12 team. OSU has now had 20 or more Academic All-Big 12 honorees in three straight seasons. The Cowboys' 112 overall honorees in the past five years ranks second in the league during that time span, behind only Kansas State. Of Oklahoma State's 20 honorees, 16 were selected as first-team members, which marks the second-highest total in school history. The five highest totals for first-team Academic All-Big 12 selections in OSU football history have come in the past five seasons, as OSU had 13 in 2015, 12 in 2016, 20 in 2017, 13 in 2018 and 16 in 2019. The list of OSU's 2019 Academic All-Big 12 honorees:

Matt Ammendola	First Team
Jarrick Bernard	First Team
Logan Carter	First Team
Braden Cassity	First Team
Amadou Fofana	First Team
Alex Hale	First Team
Matt Hembrough	First Team
Marcus Keyes	First Team
Carson Kropp	First Team
Brock Martin	First Team
Tanner McCalister	First Team
Amen Ogbongbemiga	First Team
Relijah Sherman	First Team
Dillon Stoner	First Team
Landon Wolf	First Team
Hunter Woodard	First Team
Tyrell Alexander	Second Team
Hunter Anthony	Second Team
Cameron Murray	Second Team
Spencer Sanders	Second Team

The Cowboy football program has several other recent academic highlights to share. Consider the following:

In 2018, Oklahoma State was one of only five FBS programs to earn the AFCA's Academic Achievement Award. Cowboy football posted a perfect score of 1,000 on the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) that same year. Also in 2018, the Cowboys led the Big 12 and set a program record with 26 overall Academic All-Big 12 selections.
Using the data released in 2019, the Oklahoma State football program's multi-year APR of 982 ranks second in the Big 12 and ties for 15th among all Power Five schools. It is the highest multi-year rate that OSU football has achieved since the NCAA started recording data in 2004-05. The program's multi-year APR increased from the previous year for the sixth straight year. From a single-year perspective, the football program's 2019 score of 983 is its second-best performance since the APR was implemented, trailing only 2018's perfect score of 1,000.
Cowboy Back Britton Abbott and running back Justice Hill were honored as part of the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-America Division I football team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
It marked the second consecutive season for both Abbott and Hill to be honored on the team as they became the sixth and seventh two-time recipients in OSU history. OSU has five total selections to the CoSIDA Academic All-America team over the past three seasons, tying Minnesota for the most of any school in FBS during that timeframe. Additionally, OSU was one of just five schools in FBS with multiple honorees in 2018. The selection of Abbott and Hill gave Oklahoma State seven Academic All-America honorees in the past seven years.
On top of his Academic All-America honor, Hill was also selected as the 2018 Big 12 Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
In addition to joining Abbott and Hill on the Academic All-America team in 2017, center Brad Lundblade was one of 10 finalists for the 2017 National Football Foundation Campbell Trophy, which is also known as the Academic Heisman. Additionally, he was one of only three student-athletes who represented the Big 12 Conference on the NCAA Autonomy Governance Committee in 2017.