Men's Baseball 6/30/2015 9:14:00 AM June 30, 2015

Best of the Best

To cap off one of the best years ever by a student-athlete, John Coleman, a standout for the Clarkson University Basketball and Baseball teams, has been named as the 2014-15 Capital One Division III Academic All-America® of the Year, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Capital One Academic All-America® release

Coleman, who compiled a 3.97 grade-point average in Mathematics and plans on continuing his education in Philosophy as a graduate student this fall, has earned numerous accolades this past year, including Capital One Academic All-America® in both baseball and men's basketball, and the Liberty League Scholar Male Scholar Athlete of the Year. He became one of three Division III student-athletes to earn the distinction in two sports in the same academic year. Coleman has garnered a total of five Academic All-America honors across the two sports since he became eligible as a sophomore in 2012-13. Coleman was chosen the Liberty League Co-Player of the Year for basketball and was also the conference's choice for Player of the Year in baseball. In basketball, he was also recognized as a second-team All-America by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and an honorable mention All-America selection by DIII News. Coleman was named to the NABC and D3Hoops.com All-East region First-Teams and earned a spot on the ECAC Upstate Men's Basketball First-Team. In baseball, he garnered D3Baseball.com and American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings All-East region First-Team accolades and was also selected to the ECAC Upstate Baseball First Team.

"I feel honored to be named the Capital One Division III Academic All-America® of the Year. I have only recently become aware of the existence of this award, and I can only imagine how much more honored I will feel after it has had some time to sink in. I would like to thank CoSIDA and Capital One for this tremendous recognition," said Coleman, a senior from Potsdam, New York.

Coleman is just the third student-athlete to be named Academic All-America® of the Year in two different sports in the same academic year, joining Drew Golz of Wheaton College (Illinois) who won the award in baseball (2012) and men's soccer (2011) and Cynthia Capp of West Virginia Wesleyan who earned the honor in volleyball (1990) and softball (1991).

"John Coleman truly embodies what it means to be a Division III student-athlete and a member of a team. He is a humble person who never wants to be in the spotlight, but today, I want to thank him for his leadership by example for all student-athletes," said Steve Yianoukos, Clarkson University director of athletics

"A member of both varsity basketball and baseball, he puts the same hard work and dedication into his studies as he did on the court and on the field. He is truly one of those special student-athletes that only comes along every once in a while and all of us at Clarkson University are proud of him and for being recognized as the Capital One Division III Academic All-America® of the Year," Yianoukos continued.

On the basketball court, Coleman became the Golden Knights' all-time leader in points (1,649), steals (219) and field goals made (752). A starter in 103 games, Coleman's career 16.4 points per game average was the highest in program history in nearly four decades. He led Clarkson and the league this season in scoring (17.1 per game), field goals made (198), field goal percentage (.540) and steals (2.0 per game). The Golden Knights reached the Liberty League tournament for two consecutive seasons, including an appearance in this season's league championship, where Clarkson finished the year at 20-7.

"John's success in the classroom, on the basketball court, and on the baseball field is a testament to his character. He always works hard and strives to be the best. He is the definition of a true student-athlete. John is a well deserving recipient of the Capital One Division III Academic All-America® of the Year award," said
Jeff Gorski, Clarkson's head men's basketball coach.

From the baseball diamond, Coleman led the Golden Knights to back-to-back Liberty League tournament appearances as Clarkson captured the second seed in the 2015 tournament, finishing the year with a 24-9 overall record and a 16-6 conference mark. He was the only player in the conference to finish in the top five in the offensive slash stats, hitting .437 with an on-base percentage of .525 and a slugging percentage of .605. He recorded 14 extra-base hits overall, including six triples, and failed to reach base in only two of 32 contests. Defensively, Coleman continued to be one of the top shortstops in the country, committing only six errors in 168 chances. He ended his career as one of Clarkson's top offensive players as well, finishing among the all-time leaders in hits (179), runs (108), and batting average (.352).

"John Coleman is the perfect example of a dedicated student-athlete. His work ethic and accomplishments both on the field and in the classroom are the benchmarks for all student-athletes to strive for. The Capital One Division III Academic All-America® of the Year is certainly a prestigious honor and well deserved for John," said Jim Kane, Clarkson head baseball coach.

The Capital One Division III Academic All-America ® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division III national governance structure, to assist CoSIDA with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2014-15 Division III Academic All-America ® teams program.

Honors for John Coleman in 2014-15
Capital One Division III Academic All-America® of the Year
Liberty League Scholar Male Scholar Athlete of the Year
Clarkson Male Athlete of the Year
Clarkson Male Scholar Athlete of the Year
Clarkson Pinky Ryan Memorial Award

Basketball
- Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year
- Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America - First Team
- Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District 3 - First Team
- 2015 NABC Coaches' Division III Second-Team All-American
- 2015 DIII News All-American – Honorable Mention
- 2015 NABC Coaches' Division III All-District First-Team (East)
- D3hoops.com All-Region First-Team (East)
- ECAC Upstate All-Region First-Team
- Liberty League Co-Player of the Year
- Liberty League First-Team All-Star (unanimous)

Baseball
- Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America of the Year
- Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-America - First Team
- Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District 3
- ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Division III All-New York Region First-Team
- D3Baseball.com All-New York Region First-Team
- Liberty League Player of the Year
- Liberty League First-Team All-Star (unanimous)

All-Time Clarkson All-Time CoSIDA Academic All-Americans

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Players Mentioned

#7 John Coleman: IF/RHP; 6' 3"; Senior; B/R

Players Mentioned

#7 John Coleman
: 6' 3"; Senior; B/R
: IF/RHP

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Clarkson University Athletics

Best of the Best

Players Mentioned

#7 John Coleman

Players Mentioned

#7 John Coleman