SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y.— Not only is he one of the nation's top players on the court, Skidmore College's
Edvinas Rupkus is one of the best in the classroom too. The senior guard was selected to the NCAA Division III Google Cloud Academic All-America® First Team. The team was announced Wednesday by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Rupkus is only the second three-time Academic All-America in any sport at Skidmore. He was a first team selection in 2017-18 and a second team member in 2016-17. He is the first Skidmore men's basketball player to earn the honor three times and the first to be selected to the first team twice. Skidmore Hall of Famer and field hockey standout Colleen Barber '04 was the first Thoroughbred to be selected three times.
A total of 15 players were honored on the three teams, including six repeat honorees. Rupkus is the lone honoree from the East Region and Liberty League.
A finalist for NCAA Division III Player of the Year, Rupkus became Skidmore's All-Time leading scorer with 2,128 points. He ranked third in NCAA III and 10
th among all Divisions in Active Career Leaders with at least 1500 points and 600 rebounds. He was sixth in NCAA III and 15
th overall in Active Career Leaders in points and fourth in NCAA III in free throw percentage with .832.
A double major in business and economics, Rupkus has a 3.94 grade point average. He has four perfect 4.0 semesters out seven.
Rupkus has collected numerous honors in his career, including: Liberty League Player of the Year (2018 and 2019), 2019 NABC East Region Player of the Year, 2018 NABC All-American (East Region First-Team selection, unanimous 2017, 2018, 2019), All-Liberty League First Team (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), Liberty League Rookie of the Year (2016), and D3hoops.com 2019 East Region Player of the Year.
Skidmore beat Hobart College 82-66 to win its fifth Liberty League championship and earn its sixth NCAA III tournament bid. The Thoroughbreds lost to MIT in the first round. Rupkus was a key player on two championship teams and played in three NCAA tournaments during his four years.
The Division III Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2018-19 Division II Academic All-America® teams program.
FIRST TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Austin Coene (1) Roger Williams University Sr. 3.91 Finance
Cooper Cook (1,2a) Nebraska Wesleyan University Sr. 3.97 Accounting
Tim Roberts (2) MIT Sr. 4.00 Civil & Environmental Engineering
Edvinas Rupkus (1,2a) Skidmore College Sr. 3.94 Economics / Business
David Stokman (1,3) Saint John's University (Minn.) Sr. 4.00 Economics / Philosophy
SECOND TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Booker Coplin Augsburg University Jr. 3.73 Biopsychology
Jack Davidson Wabash College So. 3.78 Economics
Jason Palesse (3) MSOE Sr. 3.93 Mechanical Engineering
Conor Riordan Simpson College Jr. 3.96 Mathematics
Daniel Rosenbaum Pomona-Pitzer Sr. 3.84 Computer Science
THIRD TEAM
Name School Yr. GPA Major
Ryuji Aoki Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Sr. 3.91 Biomedical Engineering
Darian Berry Saint Joseph's College (ME) Sr. 3.86 Finance & Accounting
Caleb Cox Capital University Sr. 3.88 Business
Matthew Kirmse MSOE Sr. 3.88 Actuarial Science
Austin Schreck Capital University Sr. 3.80 Financial Economics
1 – 2017-18 First team CoSIDA Academic All-America® Selection
2 – 2017-18 Second team CoSIDA Academic All-America® Selection
2a – 2016-17 Second team CoSIDA Academic All-America® Selection
3 – 2016-17 Third team CoSIDA Academic All-America® Selection
Google Cloud Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year: Tim Roberts, MIT
