Courtesy: Denison Athletics
GRANVILLE, Ohio—Denison University senior swimmer Bebe Wang was named the 2020 Academic All-America® of the Year for Division III as voted on by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). This comes one month after Wang was selected as the Men’s Academic All-America Team Member of the Year for the Division III At-Large contest. Each year, CoSIDA conducts 12 Academic All-America contests covering all NCAA sponsored sports. Wang was selected as the nation’s best out of a pool of the 12 top scholar-athletes in Division III. He is the first Denisonian to win the overall Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year award.
“I am extremely honored and proud to have been selected as CoSIDA’s Academic All-America® of the Year for Division III,” said Wang. “It doesn’t feel like I’ve done anything super out of the ordinary, but you don’t really know how much of an impact you’ve made until it’s laid out in front of you. This award certainly validates a lot of the contributions I have made to Denison, for not only the swim and dive program, but for the school and the campus community as well.”
“I’ve learned and grown a lot since I first stepped foot on campus, and I have many people to thank for getting me to where I am today,” added Wang. “During my time as a Denison swimmer, I’ve learned from coaches, faculty, teammates, and friends that a gesture or an act that you might consider “small” can have a huge impact on someone else. I’ve really tried to live into that notion and help as many people as I can, through both actions and words.”
A physics major with a minor in mathematics from Naperville, Illinois, Wang graduated from Denison with a 3.91 cumulative grade-point average. He is a five-time national champion and 15-time All-American and earned a $10,000 NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship in May. He entered this year’s NCAA Championship with the nation’s fastest time in the 200-yard individual medley and the third-fastest time in the 200 freestyle. A three-time College Swimming Coaches Association of America Scholar All-American, Wang, who also served as a fellow in the physics department, received the North Coast Athletic Conference Male Scholar-Athlete Award from Denison in April.
“It never gets old when our student-athletes distinguish themselves in the classroom,” said Denison head swimming coach Gregg Parini. “Bebe, congratulations on being named the CoSIDA Academic All-America® of the Year for Division III. You have set a standard in the classroom and the pool that will be very difficult to match by those that follow you. Thank you for leaving us such a positive legacy to build on.”
Wang helped the Big Red to back-to-back NCAA Division III National Championships in 2018 and 2019 and a No. 1 national ranking entering the 2020 NCAA Division III Championship that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018 Wang captured his first individual national championship in the 200 backstroke. He followed that up with a national title in the 200 IM in 2019. In addition to his two individual event national titles, Wang has also been a part of three relay national championships.
This fall, Wang will begin graduate school at Purdue University in engineering.
Denison University and the CoSIDA Academic All-America program have plenty of history together. 103 student-athletes from Denison have gone on to earn Academic All-America® status ranking them among the elite colleges in Division III. Seven student-athletes have been named Academic All-America Team Member of the Year. Wang is a two-time winner of the award and his teammate, KT Kustritz was honored as the Women’s At-Large Academic All-America Team Member of the Year last month.
Created in 1952 by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), the Academic All-America® program is a premier, nationwide college scholar-athlete awards program. It recognizes over 1,400 outstanding student-athletes annually in Division I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.
As the overall Academic All-America® Team Member of the Year, Wang was selected as the best of the best from a pool of 12 Division III Academic All-America® of the Year winners that included his teammate, Kustritz, along with Matt Anderson (Football, Wisconsin-Whitewater), Katie Bacher (Women’s Track & Field, MIT), Marcus Dempsey (Men’s Basketball, Muskingum), Sarah DeVries (Volleyball, Calvin), Hanna Hull (Softball, Virginia Wesleyan), Sydney Kopp (Women’s Basketball, DePauw), Derek Manning (Baseball, Elizabethtown), Nick Matteucci (Men’s Track & Field, Wash U.), Shannon Reagan (Women’s Soccer, Maryville), and Danny Ruple (Men’s Soccer, Baldwin Wallace).
Big Red proud
Congrats to Bebe!!! Incredible honor!!!!