2010 All-ACC Academic Football Team Announced

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Atlantic Coast Conference’s statistical leaders in total offense, field goals and touchdown responsibility and nine student-athletes who earned first-team, second-team or honorable mention All-Conference honors this past season secured spots on the 52-member 2010 All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Football Team, announced Wednesday by Commissioner John Swofford.

To be eligible for consideration, a student-athlete must have earned a 3.00 grade point average for the previous semester and maintained a 3.00 cumulative average during his academic career. All 12 ACC schools were represented by at least one selection on the team. The ACC has selected an All-ACC Academic Football team every year since 1954.

Leading the team were Boston College All-America offensive tackle Anthony Castonzo (Hawthorn Woods, Ill.), Duke placekicker Will Snyderwine (Potomac, Md.), Maryland placekicker-punter Travis Baltz (Whitehouse, Ohio), Florida State senior quarterback Christian Ponder (Coffeyville, Tex.), and NC State junior quarterback Russell Wilson (Richmond, Va.).

Castonzo, who started 54 games in his BC career, was named a first-team All-America by Scout.com, CFN.com and Pro Football Weekly and a second-team choice by Walter Camp and SI.com, while Snyderwine, who led the ACC and finished seventh nationally in field goals per game was a first-team All-America selection by the AFCA and a second-team pick by Walter Camp.

Castonzo and Baltz, who averaged 41.4 yards per punt and was sixth in the ACC in field goal percentage, were each chosen to the All-ACC Academic team for the fourth time, becoming only the 12th and 13th ACC student-athletes to have been so honored in the 57-year history of the team.

Ponder, who was third in the ACC in passing efficiency and seventh in total offense and led Florida State to a 10-4 record and a No. 16 national ranking, was chosen last November as the 2010 ACC Jim Tatum Award winner as the Conference’s top football scholar-athlete. Ponder earned his MBA degree last August and is currently working on his second graduate degree.

Wilson, a second-team All-ACC selection at quarterback, led the Conference in total offense (3,998), with the fourth highest single-season total in league history. Wilson also led the ACC in touchdown responsibility (36), the second-best single-season total for an ACC player, and in touchdown passes (28). He completed his junior season ranked 8th on the ACC career total offense list with 9,628 yards, 13th in passing yardage (9,377), second in touchdown responsibility (93) and third in touchdown passes (76).

In all, nine members of the All-ACC Academic team earned some kind of All-ACC Football recognition led by Castonzo, a two-time, first-team honoree. Five earned second-team All-ACC selection in NC State’s Wilson, Duke’s Snyderwine, Miami free safety Ray-Ray Armstrong (Sanford, Fla.); Virginia Tech defensive tackle John Graves (Richmond, Va.) and Virginia Tech running back-kick returner David Wilson (Danville, Va.). And three earned Honorable Mention All-ACC in Duke tight end Cooper Helfet (Kentfield, Calif.), Maryland guard-tackle Paul Pinegar (Brookeville, Md.) and Virginia Tech center Beau Warren (Clifton, Va.).

A total of 27 of this year’s selections were repeat choices with Castonzo and Baltz earning a berth on the team for the fourth year in a row. They become the only the 12th and 13th student-athelets in ACC history to be selected to the All-ACC Academic Football team four times. They join Ralph Lary of Maryland (1977-80), Travis Pearson of Duke (1990-93), Eddie Goines of NC State (1991-94), Daryl Bush of Florida State (1994-97), DaLawn Parrish of Wake Forest (1995, 97-99), Chris Hope of Florida State (1998-2001), Dan Dyke of Georgia Tech (1999-2002), Doug Justice of North Carolina (2002-05), Adam Podlesh of Maryland (2004-07), Georgia Tech’s Travis Bell (2004-07) and Boston College’s Steve Aponavicius (2006-09) as the only four-time members of the team.

Five of the honorees are making their third appearance on the All-ACC Academic team in Ponder, Clemson linebacker Brandon Maye (Mobile, Ala.), Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich (Wayne, Pa.), Georgia Tech running back Roddy Jones (Stone Mountain, Ga.) and Wake Forest punter Shane Popham (Crestview Hills, Ky.).

Six members of the All-ACC Academic team earned some form of Freshman All-America honors including North Carolina offensive tackle James Hurst (Plainfield, Ind.) and Georgia Tech offensive guard Will Jackson (Knoxville, Tenn.) who earned first-team honors, but also including four Duke freshmen in cornerback Ross Cockrell (Waxhaw, N.C.), offensive guard Dave Harding (Orlando, Fla.), linebacker Kelby Brown (Matthews, N.C.) and offensive tackle Perry Simmons (Raleigh, N.C.)

Duke led all ACC schools with 13 selections, followed by Clemson with 6, Virginia Tech, 5, and Boston College, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland and North Carolina with four each. Wake Forest and Miami had 3 apiece, while NC State and Virginia each had one selection.

A total of five members of the team—Herzlich of Boston College, Ponder of Florida State, Ryan Hill and Patrick Hill of Miami and Russell Wilson of NC State--have already graduated and either were in graduate school or pursuing a second bachelor’s degree this past fall.