MUNCIE, Ind. - Eastern Illinois senior defensive tackle Tim Kelly was named to the ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 team released on Thursday. Kelly will now be placed on the national ballot to be considered for Academic All-America honors
Kelly, a senior from Chicago Heights, Ill., currently holds a 3.71 GPA in sports management. This is the second straight year he has been named to the Academic All-District team. Entering this week's Ohio Valley Conference game at Jacksonville State, Kelly has made 31 tackles including 4.5 tackles for loss. He also has two sacks, one pass break-up and one quarterback hurry to his credit.
The Panthers, ranked 22nd in the latest FCS polls, will play at Jacksonville State on Saturday with a noon kick off. Both teams are 6-3 on the season and 5-1 in the OVC. The winner would set themselves for a possible at-large berth in the NCAA FCS playoffs.
To be nominated, the student-athlete must be a starter or important reserve with at least a 3.20 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) for his/her career. No athlete is eligible until he/she has reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution (thus, true freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible transfers are not eligible). In the cases of transfers, graduate students and junior college graduates, the athlete must have completed one full academic year at the nominating institution to be eligible.
District 5 candidates consist of NCAA Division I athletes from schools in the states of Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Complete District 5 Team
