Photo credit: @TheSJSUSpartan

By: Ana Kieu

The 2017-18 CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) Academic All-District® Men’s Basketball Teams have been released, and San Jose State forward Ryan Welage was selected to the All-District VIII First Team.

The CoSIDA Academic All-District Teams recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. Welage is the first San Jose State men’s basketball player to receive all-district honors since the very first awards were handed out during the 1982-83 season.

“Ryan is a great student-athlete for our program,” said Spartans’ head coach Jean Prioleau. “He works extremely hard to have success both in the classroom and in the game of basketball. That’s why he’s a team captain. We’re very happy to see him receive this honor and hope to see him selected again later this year.”

With first-team honors, Welage now advances to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, where first, second and third team All-America honorees will be announced in March.

Welage, a kinesiology major with a minor in nutrition at SJSU, earned a 4.0 GPA (Grade Point Average) in the fall and has an cumulative GPA of 3.84.

Joining Welage on the First Team is Stanford’s Dorian Pickens, Oregon State’s Stephen Thompson, Jr., Grand Canyon’s Joshua Braun and Fresno State’s Sam Bittner.

Welage and the Spartans hit the home court Saturday night against San Diego State with a tipoff set for 7:00 pm PT.