DeKALB, Ill. – Twenty-four members of the Camellia Bowl Champion Northern Illinois University football team were named to the Academic All Mid-American Conference for 2023 as the Huskies led all MAC teams in number of players honored.
 
The Huskies' 24 Academic All-MAC qualifiers tied the school record for most players to make the team and included 10 repeat selections along with 14 players to reach the GPA threshold of 3.20 with 50 percent of games played for the first time. First-year players, including transfers in their first season and true freshmen, are not eligible for the team.
 
NIU's contingent was led by a pair of players who made the Academic All-MAC list for the fourth time in offensive lineman J.J. Lippe and tight end Tristen Tewes. Lippe is pursuing his MBA, while Tewes is working on a second bachelor's degree in sociology/criminology.
 
Senior offensive lineman Nolan Potter, a two-time first team All-MAC selection, qualified for the Academic All-MAC team for the third time as did 2023 leading tackler Ray Thomas and fellow defensive lineman Jacob Waskow. See previous year's Academic All-MAC indicated in parentheses on the list below.
 
1.  James Ester, Senior, Sport Management (Grad), 3.33 GPA
2.  Tom Foley, Junior, Accountancy, 3.37 GPA (2022)
3.  Skyler Gill-Howard, Sophomore, Marketing, 3.35 GPA
4.  Cade Haberman, Junior, History, 3.27 GPA
5.  Isaac Hatfield, Sophomore, Kinesiology, 3.48 GPA (2022)
6.  Drew Hoth, Sophomore, Elementary Education - Special Education, 3.69 GPA
7.  Jalen Johnson, Freshman (R), Journalism, 3.54 GPA
8.  Brock Lampe, Junior, Health Sciences/Pre-Physical Therapy, 3.66 GPA (2022)
9.  J.J. Lippe, Junior, Business Administration (MBA), 3.76 GPA (2020, 2021, 2022)
10. Rocky Lombardi, Senior, Sport & Exercise Psychology, 3.40 GPA
11. Evan Malcore, Freshman (R), Accountancy, 3.93 GPA
12. Cyrus McGarrell, Sophomore, Business Administration, 3.20 GPA (2022)
13. Pete Nygra, Sophomore, Kinesiology, 3.78 GPA (2022)
14. Dane Pardridge, Freshman (R), Human Resource Management, 3.83 GPA
15. Luke Pinnick, Sophomore, Environmental Studies, 3.38 GPA
16. Nolan Potter, Senior, Sport Management (Grad), 3.78 GPA (2021, 2022)
17. Joey Rattin, Junior, Business Administration, 3.54 GPA
18. Kacper Rutkiewicz, Senior, Sport Management, 3.69 GPA
19. Tristen Tewes, Senior; Sociology/Criminology, 3.92 GPA (2020, 2021, 2022)
20. Raishein Thomas, Junior, Kinesiology, 3.54 GPA (2021, 2022)
21. Seth Thompson, Senior, Sport Management, 3.32 GPA
22. Trey Urwiler, Sophomore, Sport Management, 3.74 GPA
23. Jacob Waskow, Senior, Kinesiology, 3.52 GPA (2021, 2022)
24. Kanon Woodill, Sophomore, Psychology, 3.72 GPA

Seven players on the 2023 Academic All-MAC team received Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Communicators (formerly CoSIDA) last week for achieving a GPA of at least 3.50 while playing in 90 percent of the team's games.
 
Ball State's 20 Academic All-MAC honorees was a distant second to the Huskies' 24 with 184 total student-athletes honored on the 2023 squad.
 
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