College Sports Information Directors of America Academic All-America Team

Related
• 2017-18 Academic All-America® Teams and Honorees
• Steigenga honored on two 2017-18 Google Cloud Academic All-America® Teams: Men's Basketball | Track & Field/Cross Country

Men's Basketball Standout Kyle Steigenga of Cornerstone Named as Google Cloud College Division Academic All-America® of the Year

College Division Google Cloud Academic All-America® of the Year: PDF  |  doc

AUSTIN, Texas – Senior men’s basketball player Kyle Steigenga of Cornerstone University has been named as the 2017-18 Google Cloud Academic All-America® of the Year for the College Division, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
 
The Google Cloud Academic All-America® College Division teams are comprised of student-athletes from NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions. This the seventh year that CoSIDA has named College Division Academic All-America® teams.
 
Women’s track & field/cross country runner Leah Esposito (Carroll College) earned the College Division Academic All-America® of the Year the past two years. Park University women’s volleyball player Wanessa Siqueira captured the award in 2014-15. Men’s soccer player Stephen Lunney (Martin Methodist College) collected the honor in 2013-14. Women’s soccer player Mia Persson (Lindsey Wilson College) earned the award in 2012-13 while Jamie Achten of the Lee University women’s soccer team was selected in 2011-12.
 
A senior education and kinesiology major from Holland, Michigan, Steigenga owns a 3.97 GPA. Steigenga joins an elite class of three-time first-team Academic All-America® honorees. He is a two-time Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete and Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference All-Academic.
 
“To be chosen as the recipient of an award that epitomizes the true definition of a student-athlete is a high honor,” said Steigenga. “However, I could not have achieved what I did in the classroom and on the court in my four years if it were not for the tremendous support I received from my teachers, coaches, teammates, fellow students, and many others in the Cornerstone community.”
 
Steigenga closed his illustrious career when Cornerstone ended its season in the NAIA Division II Tournament quarterfinals with a 30-5 ledger in 2017-18. He led the Golden Eagles with 20.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game as he shot 59.7 percent from the floor. Steigenga produced 3,023 points (a new scoring record for four-year schools in the state of Michigan), 1,201 rebounds, 271 assists and 81 blocked shots for the Golden Eagles. He became the first Cornerstone men’s basketball player to score 3,000 points and finished second on the program’s career rebounding list. Steigenga established NAIA Division II Tournament career records with 332 points and 135 rebounds in 15 games.
 
"Kyle is a special young man and it's a tremendous honor for him to receive this prestigious award,” said Cornerstone men’s basketball coach Kim Elders. “I'm obviously biased, but no one deserves this award more than Kyle. He's an outstanding person both on and off the court while his accomplishments on the court speak for themselves. What he's done in the classroom is remarkable and I'm so proud of Kyle. He's a once in a lifetime player/person and it's been my privilege to have been his coach the last four years."
 
Steigenga’s two WHAC Player of the Year honors and four first-team all-conference nods are program firsts. He became the first men’s basketball player to collect four first-team NAIA All-America accolades. He was also named WHAC Newcomer of the Year and 2015 NAIA Division II Tournament Most Valuable Player. He also received the NAIA’s Emil S. Liston Award in 2017. Steigenga led Cornerstone to the 2015 national championship, 2017 national runner-up finish, three conference regular-season championships, two league tournament championships, three 30-win seasons and a 124-21 mark. Steigenga was also a two-time Google Cloud Academic All-America® College Division second team selection in men’s track & field/cross country.
 
The CoSIDA Division III Academic All-America® of the Year award winner will be announced Tuesday (July 17) followed by the Division II winner Wednesday (July 18) and the Division I honoree Thursday (July 19).

2017-18 Sport-by-Sport College Division Google Cloud Academic All-America® of the Year Award Winners

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Michael MacEachern, Young Harris College | Google Cloud Academic All-America® Co-Director for Publicity
mfmaceachern@yhc.edu | (706) 379-5106