MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Middle Tennessee men's golf team has been honored for academic excellence by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) and its national advisory board.
The GCAA named Middle Tennessee as one of 48 Division I golf teams to compile a grade point average of 3.0 or higher during the 2008-09 school year. The Blue Raiders will be listed as an All-Academic Team.
Middle Tennessee's cumulative team GPA was 3.17 for the past academic year.
"This is a nice honor for our team, and is an area that we emphasize year round," said Head Coach Whit Turnbow. "Our guys actually work harder in the classroom than they do on the golf course. Academics are the No. 1 priority around here."
"We are pleased to have been recognized like this, but there are 16 sports here at Middle Tennessee, and we all work to produce student-athletes."
As proof that athletics and academics can go hand-in-hand, the Middle Tennessee golf team also won the Sun Belt Conference title last year, and went to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row.
Middle Tennessee was one of two Sun Belt Conference schools, and one of only five schools in Tennessee, to earn All-Academic Team honors.