Wheaton, Ill. – Four members of the 2021 Thunder football team have been named to the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-America Division III Football Team. Luke Anthony, Giovanni Weeks, and Ryan Schwartz (PICTURED LEFT) are First Team Academic All-America selections. Caleb Egbert is a Second Team honoree.

Wheaton's four selections is tied for the second-most by one team on this year's Division III Academic All-America Team, behind only Johns Hopkins. Additionally, four honorees on this year's Division III Academic All-America Team is a new single-season best for the Wheaton football program, topping the two Wheaton football players that earned Academic All-America honors in 1976 (Eugene Campbell and Craig Carter) and two selections in 2011 (J.J. Clark and Scott Roche). 

Anthony (PICTURED RIGHT), a senior, a Business and Economics major at Wheaton with a 3.91 cumulative grade point average. The First Team selection at quarterback, started all 12 games for the Thunder at quarterback in 2021, throwing for 2,557 yards with 27 touchdown passes. Anthony completed 180 of his 290 passing attempts for a 62.1 completion percentage this season.

Weeks (PICTURED LEFT) is a Business and Economics major at Wheaton with a 3.67 cumulative grade point average. A junior, the First Team pick at running back ranks second in Division III this year with an average of 8.2 yards per carry. He tallied a school record 1,462 rushing yards on 179 carries. He ran for a school record 20 rushing touchdowns this year. Weeks had 1,938 all-purpose yards this season and his 176.2 all-purpose yards per game ranks fifth in Division III this season. 

Schwartz is a Business and Economics major at Wheaton with a 3.82 cumulative grade point average. A First Team honoree at linebacker, the senior was a semifinalist for the 2021 National Football Foundation "Scholar-Athlete" award earlier this fall. Schwartz led the Wheaton defense in total total tackles this season with 89, including 64 solo stops. He has 9-1/2 tackles for loss (-17 yards), and three interceptions.

Egbert (PICTURED RIGHT), a cornerback, is a Business and Economics major at Wheaton with a 3.45 cumulative GPA. A Second Team Academic All-American at defensive back, he made 40 total tackles this season, including 33 solo stops. He registered a team-leading four interceptions, tying for the CCIW lead in the category. He returned three of his picks this season for a touchdown.

The CoSIDA Academic All-America® program honors student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level in athletics and in the classroom. Members of the eight First Team Academic All-District®  squads in each Division advance to the national ballot, where they have the opportunity to be selected for the Academic All-America Team. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA; a 2,000-plus member organization consisted of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

Through the years, Wheaton student-athletes have earned a total of 107 Academic All-American selections through the prestigious program. Since 2000, there have been 82 Academic All-American selections from Wheaton. There have been 24 Wheaton College football Academic All-America selections among 21 players since the program began: Bill Hyer (1973); Eugene Campbell (1975 & 1976); Craig Carter (1976); Paul Sternenberg (1988), Bart Moseman (1992); Pedro Arruza (1993, 1994 & 1995); Jeff Brown (1995); Chip Parrish (1996); Dane Lundgren (2002); James Hoxworth (2003); Andrew Day (2005); J.J. Clark (2011); Scott Roche (2011), Eric Stevenson (2017 & 2018) and Corey Kennedy (2018 & 2019); Anthony (2021); Egbert (2021); Schwartz (2021) and Weeks (2021).

To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at his/her current institution. Since the program's inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Division I, II, III, NAIA and junior colleges covering all NCAA championship sports.

MOST 2021 CoSIDA DIVISION III FOOTBALL ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS
1.) Johns Hopkins: 8
T2.) WHEATON COLLEGE: 4
T2.) MIT: 4
T3.) Saint John's (Minn.): 3
T3.) Hardin-Simmons: 3