Six Valley Football schools were represented on the 2010 ESPN Academic All-America Football Teams as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) and announced Nov. 23.  Southern Illinois tied for the nation's lead as it had three student-athletes selected.

Southern's three selections ties with Penn State for the most from a single school out of 242 Division I institutions that have football (FBS and FCS).

RB Kyle Minett, SDSU, Sr., 3.67 Economics

WR Joe Allaria, SIU, Sr., 3.75 Marketing

DL Chance Coda, SIU, Jr., 4.00 Accounting 

LB Kyle Glazier, WIU, Sr., 3.88 Law Enforcement, Justice Admin.

RB Tyler Duffy, SDSU, Sr., 4.00 Electrical Engineering

OL David Arkin, MSU, Sr., 3.72 Construction Management

OL David Pickard, SIU, Jr., 4.00 Political Science

K Stephen Blose, YSU, Sr., 4.00 Middle Childhood Education 

DL Ben Boothby, UNI, Jr., 3.85 Movement & Exercise Science

David Arkin, who was also an Academic All-District VII selection in 2009 and 2010, has a 3.72 grade point average in Construction Management with minors in Finance and Real Estate. He started all 11 games for the Bears this season landed a spot on the All-MVFC team the past three seasons. He has started all 44 games of his MSU career and graded out at 87 percent for the season with 82 knock-down blocks. He was recently named to the FCS Senior Bowl watch list, is a preseason FCS All-American and is ranked No. 10 among all 2011 NFL Draft eligible offensive guard prospects by CBSSports.com.

University of Northern Iowa junior Ben Boothby led the Missouri Valley Football Conference with 8.0 sacks on the season, ranking 13th nationally. He also tallied 47 tackles on the year, 12.5 of them for a loss.  Boothby, a native of Clinton, Iowa, has a 3.85 GPA in movement and exercise science. He is the seventh Panther to earn Academic All-America honors, and it marks the third straight season that the Panthers have had a representative on the Academic All-America team.

A starter in ten games at South Dakota State, Minett is an Economics major with a 3.67 G.P.A. Chosen as an All-Missouri Valley Conference selection twice, he is a strong candidate for the Walter Payton Award as the top player in NCAA FCS. As a senior, he ran for 1,208 yards and scored 12 touchdowns to lead the MVC. A native of Ruthton, Minn., Minett finished his career with a school record 4,277 yards while scoring a school record 54 touchdowns. He also had three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

Tyler Duffy has a perfect 4.00 in electrical engineering, and ranked second on the team in rushing with 465 yards and five touchdowns.  He gained a career-high 127 yards on 36 carries in first career start, against North Dakota, in the season finale.  He was an Academic All-MVFC pick in 2009.

Senior wide receiver Joe Allaria and junior defensive end Chance Coda were voted to the first team while offensive tackle David Pickard was selected to the second team. This is the first Academic All-America honors in the careers of each student-athlete.

With Mike McElroy's second team selection to the 2009 ESPN Academic All-America list, Southern Illinois has now had four Academic All-Americans in the last two seasons. The Salukis had just six players in program history earn the prestigious award prior to the past two seasons. This also marks the third time that SIU has had multiple Academic All-America selections in one year. Jon Manley and Dwayne Summers were both first team honorees in 1991 and Sam Finocchio (first team) and Dave Petruncio (second team) both garnered acclaim in 1970.

Allaria, a team captain, sports a 3.753 grade point average in marketing. He rounded out his career as the second-leading receiver in school history with 138 receptions. Allaria led the team in 2010 with 58 receptions for 511 yards and three touchdowns. The Edwardsville, Ill.-native caught at least ond pass in the final 31 games of his career.

Coda, a fourth-year junior from Grand Rapids, Mich., carries a perfect 4.0 grade point average in accounting. He has started in all 36 games of his career and in 2010, he had 30 tackles and was second on the team with eight tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks. Coda ranked in the Top 10 in the MVFC in sacks and was 11th in tackles for a loss, as he recorded a stop behind the line of scrimmage in 8-of-11 games. He forced two fumbles on the year and had four quarterback hurries.

Pickard graduated in three years with a bachelor's degree in political science. He carries a 3.933 grade point average, as he is now pursuing his master's degree in public administration.  The Oak Park, Ill.-native has started in 24-straight games at left tackle and he led the Saluki offense to 30.1 points per game and 378.2 yards of total offense in 2010. He was named the MVFC Offensive Lineman of the Week on Oct. 11 this season and was selected by The Sports Network as a Third Team All-American in 2009.

LB Kyle Glazier holds a 3.88 cumulative GPA in Law Enforcement Justice Administration.  The 2010 Buck Buchanan Award candidate leads the conference and ranks third nationally in tackles (12.45).  He holds the 1st (25 at Missouri State) and tied for 3rd (21 at South Dakota State) most tackles in a FCS game this year, while he had eight games of 10-plus tackles.  The Preseason All-American was National ‘Defensive Player of the Week’ by The Sports Network and earned a 2009 MVFC Commissioner’s Academic Excellence Award.  He was a first-team all-district selection last year.

PK Stephen Blose, who owns a 4.00 GPA in Middle Childhood Education, had stellar senior season for the Penguins in 2010. Overall, he had one of the best kicking years in school history making 12-of-14 field goals and 38-of-40 extra-point tries to score 74 points. He ended the season making his final 11 field-goal attempts, the second-longest streak in school history.

He is the sixth YSU football student-athlete to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors. He joins Scott Thiessen (First Team in 2003), Anthony Pannunzio (First Team in 1998), John Quintana (First Team in 1993), Sam Barbara (Second Team in 1978) and Dave Garden (Second Team in 1975) as YSU Football Academic All-Americans.