South Dakota State defensive standouts Adam Bock and Jarod DePriest were among 54 student-athletes named Tuesday to the 27th Annual Academic All-Star Team selected by the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association.
A senior linebacker from Solon, Iowa, Bock also was chosen as one of 10 finalists for an FCS ADA $5,000 Postgraduate Scholarship. Two winners from the group of finalists will be announced at a later date.
A repeat selection to the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team, Bock compiled a 3.83 grade-point average as an undergraduate majoring in mechanical engineering and has gone on to post a 3.85 GPA while pursuing a masters degree in engineering. On the field, he was a four-year starter and racked up the second most tackles in program history with 446, including a team-best 102 in 2024.
DePriest, a native of Trivoli, Illinois, posted a 3.52 GPA as an undergraduate student in business economics and has turned in a 3.66 GPA as a graduate student. A two-year starter at defensive tackle, he closed out his Jackrabbit career in 2024 with 32 total tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss, a pair of sacks and two forced fumbles.
Each of the nominees was required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.20 (on a 4.00 scale) in undergraduate or graduate study and have been a starter or key player with legitimate athletics credentials. They must have reached at least their second year of athletics and academic standing at the nominated institution and have completed a minimum of one full academic year at the nominated institution. They also must have participated in 50 percent of the games played at their designated position.
South Dakota State has had at least one student-athlete honored on the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team 18 of the last 19 years with a total of 31 selections.
Previous FCS ADA Academic All-Star team selections
2006: Parker Douglass, Cory Koenig
2007: Parker Douglass, *Cory Koenig
2008: *Ryan Berry, Kevin Robling
2009: Conrad Kjerstad
2010: Tyler Duffy, Kyle Minett
2011: Brad Iverson
2012: Seth Daughters, Zach Zenner
2013: Brandon Hubert, Zach Zenner
2014: Jason Schneider, *Zach Zenner
2015: Nick Mears
2016: Nick Mears, Jake Wieneke
2017: Jake Wieneke
2018: *Taryn Christion, Dalton Cox
2019: Evan Greeneway, Christian Rozeboom
2020-21: Wes Genant, Preston Tetzlaff
2021: Aron Johnson
2023: Adam Bock, *Mark Gronowski
2024: Adam Bock, Jarod DePriest
* denotes postgraduate scholarship recipient
In addition, Bock and DePriest were two of eight Jackrabbit football student-athletes honored Tuesday as members of the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team. Also representing SDSU on the honor squad were:
Max Baloun, defensive tackle, Redfield
Mark Gronowski, quarterback, Naperville, Illinois
Kaydon Olivia, long snapper, Schertz, Texas
Levi Vanden Bos, defensive end, Rock Valley, Iowa
Griffin Wilde, wide receiver, Sioux Falls
Aaron Wolfcale-Holsten, defensive tackle, Gilbert, Arizona
Nominees to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team must be at least a sophomore in academic and athletic standing, a starter or key reserve who played in at least 75 percent of his teams games and carry at least a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average.
Based on the combination of their athletic and academic accomplishments, Bock, DePriest, Gronowski and Wilde have been selected for inclusion on the national ballot for Academic All-America consideration later this month.
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