CLEMSON, S.C. — The Atlantic Coast Conference announced its annual All-ACC Academic Team on Monday, with Clemson setting a program record by placing nine members of its 2020 ACC Championship squad on the annual list.
Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career. After meeting those prerequisites, athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.
Clemson’s list of 2020 All-ACC Academic Team selections include:
Clemson’s nine All-ACC selections break Clemson’s previous high of eight, set following both the 2017 and 2019 seasons. Clemson has now had at least seven selections in each of the past four seasons, and has now produced at least three All-ACC Academic selections in 14 consecutive seasons.
Four of the nine selected are Clemson graduates, including Bockhorst, Lawrence, Spector and Spiers. Eight of the nine are continuing their academic and athletic careers at Clemson, with three continuing postgraduate studies, five continuing their pursuit of their undergraduate degrees, and Lawrence entering the 2021 NFL Draft having earned his degree in marketing in three years.
Lawrence and Spiers are now both three-time All-ACC Academic Team selections, joining Christian Wilkins and Dalton Freeman (four each) and Sean Pollard, Brandon Maye, Steve Fuller, Bruce Bratton, Don Kelley, Chad Carson, Kyle Young, Chandler Catanzaro, Stacy Fields, Ben Anderson, Thomas Austin, Ty Granger, Ben Boulware, Dawson Zimmerman and Jaron Brown (three each) as the only players in school history to earn at least three All-ACC Academic selections.
Clemson’s other seven selections are all first-time honorees, a group that included two 2020 sophomores (Booth and Putnam), three juniors (Bockhorst, Galloway and Potter), a senior (Swinney) and a graduate (Spector).
Five of the players selected — Bockhorst, Galloway, Lawrence, Spiers and Swinney — were 2020 ambassadors with Clemson’s P.A.W. Journey program, which cultivates leadership in football student-athletes through personal growth, life skills and professional development.
