ST. LOUIS -- Missouri Valley Football Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year Drew Himmelman of Illinois State highlights the list of 42 student-athletes honored as part of the 2020-21 MVFC All-Academic Teams, announced by the league office today.  Himmelman, an offensive lineman, carried a 3.82 grade point average as an undergraduate in exercise science, and he has a 4.00 GPA while pursuing a master's in biomechanics.  He is a repeat MVFC All-Academic Team first-team selection (2019) and was a 2020 Campbell Trophy finalist.

2021 MVFC All-Academic Team (PDF)




Nominees must be starters or important reserves; must have participated in at least 50 percent of his team's games and carry a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.20 (on a 4.0 scale). Nominees in graduate school must have a cumulative GPA of 3.20 or better both as an undergrad AND in graduate school.

Additionally, nominees must have reached sophomore athletic and academic standing at their institution and must have completed at least one calendar year at their institution. True freshmen, red-shirt freshmen and ineligible athletic transfers are not eligible. Graduate students who are competing at a different institution than the one from which they earned their undergraduate degree are eligible even if they are in their first semester at the graduate institution.

League sports information directors voted on the team by designating 11 players for first-team honors and 11 players for second-team honors.  A total of 83 MVFC student-athletes met the criteria for consideration this spring.