Townsend, MD --- Worcester State men's basketball senior Dane Jobst (Athol, MA) has been tabbed as a Capital One Division III Academic First-Team All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (Co-SIDA).
With the honorable distinction, Jobst becomes the second Lancer to be recognized with First-Team laurels and the first-ever men's basketball student-athlete selected as an Academic All-American.
Jobst was joined on the squad by fellow regional representatives, senior Ryan Sheehan (N. Attleboro, MA) of Nichols, who was a Second-Team honoree and senior Ben Johnson (Manchester, ME) of UMaine Farmington, who received the nod on the Third-Team.
Along with Jobst, Johnson and junior Gordon Lyons (Amherst, NY) of SUNY Genesco, were the only student-athletes on the 15-member squad who were from a public institution.
Since transferring from St. Joseph's of Vermont last season, Jobst has been a consistent post presence and scoring threat all over the court. Entering the week, he boosted eye-popping totals of 17.0 points and 13.2 rebounds per game to go along with a field goal percentage of .452, a three-point clip of .349 and he has sank .678 of his free throw attempts.
Jobst is currently third in the NCAA Division III in rebounding and fourth in total (291) while his scoring is 29th in New England. In addition to ranking fourth in the MASCAC in average and total scoring (374 points), he is also in the top 10 in all three shooting percentage categories. Jobst is one of nine nationally with 15 or more double-doubles to his credit.
As a Second-Team All-MASCAC selection during the 2012-13 campaign, Jobst averaged the fifth-most boards in the nation (12.1 RPG) and he was seventh his final cumulative sum (314), which was the fourth-highest total in WSU history.
Off the court, Jobst is active in the Athlete Mentor Program, he is a two-time All-MASCAC Winter Academic honoree, was tabbed to the prestigious NABC Honor Court Team as a junior and he interned this past Fall semester in the Worcester County District Attorney's Office in the Central District Court (CDC) Unit.
Jobst maintains a stellar 3.91 grade point average with a major in Criminal Justice and a double-minor in Philosophy and Law.
Since women's basketball student-athlete Jackie Shaker was distinguished in 1980 and 1981, Worcester State has had six individuals and nine selections overall. Former women's soccer standout Nikki Scott the last student-athlete named in 2011 as a Third-Team back.
To be eligible for all-academic honors, a student-athlete must be a starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
This year marks the third that the College Division (Non-Division I) has been expanded to include Divisions I, II, III and NAIA and Canadian schools and two year-institutions. The regions were spread out to include eight distinct geographic locations across the United States.
After a 79-66 triumph over Fitchburg State yesterday, the Lancers (13-10, 7-4 MASCAC) are currently in third place and vying for a home game in the upcoming conference tournament next week. They close out their regular season with a road meeting against Framingham State.
2014 Co-SIDA Division III Men's Basketball Academic All-American Team
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