Three Simpson men’s basketball team members made the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District team on March 26: Easton Darling, Andrew Gibb and Jack Hutchinson. They are all receiving this honor for the first time.

“Athletics communication professionals across the country nominate and vote for Academic All-District and Academic All-America,” Emma Christensen, the director of athletics communication at Simpson, said. “Nominees are chosen based on specific academic and athletic eligibility criteria.”

To meet these requirements, nominees must be at least a sophomore with a 3.50 cumulative GPA or higher and played in 90% of their collegiate games or been a starter for at least 66%.

According to Christensen, each school’s communications director can nominate a specific number of individuals in each sport. If these nominees meet the athletic and academic eligibility, they automatically make the Academic All-District team. 

Then, the nominators select which of their nominees goes onto the national ballot. CSC members nationwide vote and select students from this ballot to make the Academic All-America team for each division and sport. They will release the All-America list for men’s basketball on April 16.

All three recognized athletes have started in 25 games this season and had great success on the court.

Darling, a senior guard studying sports administration, scored 291 points and made 46 3-pointers. 

Making the Academic All-District team means a lot to him.

“It is nice to achieve things off the court considering we spend so much time striving to achieve things on the court,” he said.

Gibb felt similarly to Darling about this award. “My parents have always prioritized taking care of your business in the classroom before going out and doing your best on the court.”

Gibb, a senior history major and guard, scored 465 points and had 106 rebounds. He was also a member of the All-Conference Second Team, another honor to recognize accomplished student-athletes.

Gibb said he earned this award because he learned to manage his time and balance being an athlete and a student.

Hutchinson, a junior guard majoring in economics and finance, scored 255 points and made 95.8% of his free throws.

Hutchinson, Gibb and Darling are not the only Simpson students to make this team.

Since Christensen started her position in October 2021, more than 80 students have made the Academic All-District team, and five made the Academic All-America team. Jenna Taylor and Reed Worth were on the All-America team twice.

Additionally, each sport chooses one athlete per division to be the Academic All-America Team Member of the Year, which Christensen called “the highest honor an athlete can receive.”

Outside of Simpson, many prolific stars have won spots on the Academic All-America team, including baseball player Joe Girardi and quarterback Peyton Manning.