Thomas van der Mars Named to Capital One Academic All-America® Team
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TOWSON, Md. --- University of Portland junior center Thomas van der Mars was named to the Capital One Academic All-America® Division I Men's Basketball Team, the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced on Tuesday. Van der Mars becomes just the second men's basketball player in school history to be named an Academic All-American.
Van der Mars earned third team honors after qualifying with a 3.95 cumulative grade-point average as an operations and technology management major in the University's Pamplin School of Business. He joins Rick Raivio who also earned third team Academic All-America® honors in 1980 and becomes Portland's 30th student-athlete to earn Academic All-America® honors across all sports.
A native of Gouda, The Netherlands, van der Mars is one of only three players among the 15 Academic All-Americans in men's basketball that is not a senior or graduate school student. Ohio State senior guard Aaron Craft was named the Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year.
Van der Mars has had a breakout junior season for the Pilots averaging career-highs of 12.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. He leads the West Coast Conference in field goal percentage (.605) and is third in the league with seven double-doubles this season.
The 6-11 center has had a few remarkable games this season beginning with a 19-point, 18-rebound effort against Portland State on Dec. 7 that earned him WCC Player of the Week honors. He became the first Pilot to win the weekly honor since Jan. 31, 2011.
Van der Mars scored 27 points with 18 rebounds in the triple overtime win against BYU on Jan. 23, including 21 his points after halftime. He then scored a career-high 28 points with 11 rebounds at Santa Clara on Feb. 1. He was 9-for-10 from the field and 10-for-10 from the free throw line in the win.
A three-year starter for the Pilots, van der Mars already ranks fourth in school history in field goal percentage (.563), seventh in blocked shots (68), 20th in total rebounds (514), and is on pace to finish Top 10 in career scoring.
To be eligible for Academic All-America® consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.
Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America® honors on more than 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
For more information about the Academic All-America® Teams program, please visit
www.cosida.com.
2013-14 CAPITAL ONE ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA ® DIVISION I MEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM
FIRST TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Brayden Carlson South Dakota State Sr. Brookings, S.D. 3.94 Economics
Aaron Craft (1) # @ Ohio State Sr. Findlay, Ohio 3.93 Nutrition (pre-med)
Drew Crawford (2) Northwestern Gr. Naperville, Ill. 3.31 Sports admin
Melvin Ejim Iowa State Sr. Toronto, Ontario 3.70 History
J.J. Mann Belmont Sr. Smyrna, Ga. 3.51 Economics
SECOND TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Jordan Dykstra South Dakota State Sr. Rock Valley, Iowa 3.71 Biology, Pre-dentistry
Holton Hunsaker Utah Valley Sr. N. Salt Lake City, Utah 3.88 Accounting
Dennis Ogbe Tennessee Tech Sr. Munich, Germany 3.91 Electrical Engineering
Marcus Paige North Carolina So. Marion, Iowa 3.39 Journalism & Mass Comm.
Kendrick Perry Youngstown State Sr. Ocoee, Fla. 3.46 Criminal Justice
THIRD TEAM
Name School Yr. Hometown GPA Major
Malte Kramer Pepperdine Sr. Frieburg, Germany 4.00 Economics
Beau Levesque Saint Mary's (Cal.) Gr. Lafayette, Calif. 3.80 Master of Arts in Leadership
Matt Townsend Yale Jr. Chappaqua, N.Y. 4.00 Molecular & Cellular Bio.
Thomas van der mars Portland Jr. Gouda, Netherlands 3.95 Operations & Tech. Mgmt.
Patric Young Florida Sr. Jacksonville, Fla. 3.37 Telecommunications
1 - Capital One Academic All-America® Division I first team selection in 2012-13
# - Capital One Academic All-America® Division I first team selection in 2011-12
2 - Capital One Academic All-America® Division I second team selection in 2011-12
@ - Capital One Academic All-America® of the Year for Division I men's basketball in 2012-13
UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND COSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-AMERCIANS
Year Name Sport
1980 Rick Raivio (3rd Team) basketball
1988 Ted Sheedy (3rd Team) baseball
1991 Martha Sheldon (3rd Team) basketball
1992 Martha Sheldon (1st Team) basketball
1996 Uli Steidl (2nd Team) track
1996 Laura Sale (1st Team) basketball
1997 Uli Steidl (2nd Team) track
1997 Darren Hartman (3rd Team) baseball
1998 Justi Baumgardt (2nd Team) soccer
2000 Cory Lunde (3rd Team) baseball
2002 Christine Sinclair (3rd Team) soccer
2002 Nate Jaqua (2nd Team) soccer
2003 Imani Dorsey (2nd Team) soccer
2004 Christine Sinclair (3rd Team) soccer
2005 Christine Sinclair* (1st Team) soccer
(*Academic All-American of the Year)
2005 Kelsey Hollenbeck (2nd Team) soccer
2005 Kari Evans (2nd Team) soccer
2006 Brett Carter (3rd Team) track/cross country
2006 Kari Evans (2nd Team) soccer
2007 David Kinsella (2nd Team) track/cross country
2008 David Kinsella (1st Team) track/cross country
2009 David Kinsella (1st Team) track/cross country
2009 Danielle Foxhoven (1st Team) soccer
2009 Jessica Tsao (1st Team) soccer
2010 C.J. Cullen (1st Team) baseball
2010 Jessica Tsao (1st Team) soccer
2010 Elli Reed (2nd Team) soccer
2010 Danielle Foxhoven (3rd Team) soccer
2011 Chris Dennis (2nd Team) baseball
2014 Thomas van der Mars (3rd Team) basketball
