Kentucky’s Poythress named academic All-American

University of Kentucky senior Alex Poythress was named the Wildcats’ first academic All-American in men’s basketball in 20 years on Thursday.

Poythress was named to the Second Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Poythress is the 12th Kentucky player to earn academic All-America honors in program history, joining legends such as Louie Dampier, Larry Conley, Dan Issel, Mike Pratt and Kyle Macy. Mark Pope, in 1995, was the most recent.

The Clarksville, Tenn., native graduated in just three years with a degree in business marketing. He earned a 3.517 undergraduate grade-point average and is now pursuing a master’s of science in kinesiology and health promotion with an emphasis on sport leadership. He finished his first semester of grad school with a 4.0 GPA.

Poythress has appeared on the SEC Academic Honor Roll during every year of college. He is also a three-time Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar and has been named to the athletic director’s honor roll three times, which honors the student-athlete with the highest GPA on his team.

Poythress is averaging 9.9 points and a team-high 6.4 rebounds for the 22-8 Wildcats during his final season at Kentucky.

Kendall Noble of Western Kentucky University was named to the women’s Academic All-America Third Team.

Lydia Nash of Union College was named NAIA women’s Academic All-American of the Year.

Catie Fletcher of Asbury made the NAIA women’s First Team.

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Kentucky’s Poythress named academic All-American."