OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss men's tennis team is in some select company when it comes to the 2012-13 season. The Rebels are one of only two teams to finish the year ranked in the nation's top 10 and earn the ITA All-Academic Team Award.
Ole Miss, who ended the year ranked No. 10 in the national rankings, joined Duke as the only other top-10 team to accomplish the feat and earn the prestigious academic award.
The Rebels earned the ITA All-Academic Team Award for the third consecutive year and eighth time overall.
This award honors teams with outstanding academic achievements, requiring a minimum overall 3.2 grade point average to be considered. The Rebels posted a cumulative GPA of 3.35 for the 2012-13 year.
"We are extremely proud of our guys for not only winning on the court, but also striving to be champions in the classroom," head coach Billy Chadwick said. "This is a very prestigious honor, and to be one of only two teams in the top 10 to achieve this says a lot about the type of student-athletes we have in our program."
This past year, the Rebels captured their 10th SEC West title, advanced to the NCAA Championships for the 20th consecutive year and were led by All-Americans and NCAA Doubles Semifinalists Nik Scholtz and Jonas Lutjen.
Three players were honored as ITA Scholar-Athletes: Johan Backstrom, Adrian Forberg Skogeng and Drew Galtney. To be eligible for ITA Scholar-Athlete recognition student-athletes must have a GPA of 3.50 or higher for the year.
Forberg Skogeng posted a perfect 4.00 GPA for the year to lead the Rebels and earn the honor for the fourth time in his career. A finalist for the SEC Boyd McWhorter Scholar-Athlete of the Year Award, Forberg Skogeng graduated with honors this past May with a degree in Managerial Finance.
Backstrom earned the honor for the second time in his career, posting a 3.91 GPA, also in Managerial Finance. Galtney completed his freshman year with a 3.80 GPA in Insurance and Risk Management.
Academic honors were plenty this past year, as the Rebels also earned the Chancellor's Cup for the 10th straight year as the Ole Miss men's team with the highest cumulative GPA. In addition, Backstrom and Forberg Skogeng were named to the Capital One CoSIDA Academic All-District At-Large Team, and seven players were named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
