EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State senior guard Drew Neitzel has been named to the 2008 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America second team. Neitzel, who owns a 3.27 grade-point average as an interdisciplinary humanities major, is the fifth player in Michigan State history to earn Academic All-America honors.
This season, Neitzel is averaging 13.8 points and 4.3 assists. He ranks second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.16-to-1). For his career, Neitzel ranks 15th in MSU career scoring (1,405). He currently ranks fifth in career assists (564), second in career free-throw percentage (.857), and third in 3-point field goals made (244) and 3-point field goals attempted (611).
Neitzel is the first MSU Academic All-American since Chris Hill was a three-time honoree from 2003-05, earning Academic All-American of the Year honors as a senior. Ralph Simpson was the first honoree in 1970. Greg Kelser was a first-team recipient in 1979 and Matt Steigenga earned third-team honors in 1990.
The first team is comprised of Texas’ D.J. Augustin, Drake’s Adam Emmenecker (Academic All-American of the Year), Belmont’s Justin Hare, Coastal Carolina’s Jack Leasure and North Dakota State’s Brett Winkelman. Neitzel is joined on the second team by Butler’s A.J. Graves, Southern Illinois’ Bryan Mullins, Western Michigan’s Joe Reitz and Green Bay’s Mike Schachtner. The third team includes Sam Houston State’s Ryan Bright, Boise State’s Matt Nelson, Duke’s Greg Paulus, West Virginia’s Alex Ruoff and Butler’s Drew Streicher.
