TOWSON, Md. – Junior Ben Jacobs collected another academic honor to his already prestigious list of awards by being the solo member of the UNC Pembroke men's basketball team to be named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) academic all-district first team in district three for the NCAA Division II, the organization announced Thursday afternoon. 

The Four Oaks native was of the 42 student-athletics to grace the list for DII and was one of just five players district-wide to be named to the squad. CoSIDA's District 3 comprises the Peach Belt Conference, Conference Carolinas and the South Atlantic Conference, and he is one of three hailing from the PBC that joins fellow league players Travis Core of North Georgia and Jessee Seilern of USC Aiken.

The award is the second-consecutive honor for Jacobs who, last season, nabbed the laurel as the of its kind for a UNCP men's basketball player, and the first regional or national academic honor in 2013 for a Brave since Alfred DiPinto was named a scholar athlete by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).

Jacobs, who maintains a 3.96 cumulative grade point average as an exercise science major at UNC Pembroke, has played in 21 games (17 starts) for the Braves this season and has registered 10.3 points, the fourth highest on the team, and 6.3 rebounds an outing (tied for second on the squad) while shooting better than 54 percent from the floor. He has scored 10 or more points on 12 occasions, including a career-high 20 points in UNCP's win over Coker this season. The forward logged his only double-double of the season in the season opener against Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras with 10 points and 10 rebounds on Nov. 7, 2013. 

The team is released to recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom. The Academic All-District teams are divided into eight geographic districts across the United States and Canada. This is the third year of the expanded Academic All-America program as CoSIDA moves from recognizing a University Division (Division I) and a College Division (all non-Division I) and doubles the number of scholar-athletes honored. The teams include NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II and NCAA Division III participants, while the College Division combines NAIA, Canadian and two-year schools.

As a result of Jacobs's nominations to the CoSIDA first team, his statistics will advance to the national ballot where he will have an opportunity to be nominated for Capital One Academic All-American team. Only paying members of CoSIDA were able to vote at the district level and determine the first-team all-district selections. At the national level, only members of the Academic All-America committee and the CoSIDA board of directors will be able to vote to determine the Academic All-America teams.

The voting period for the national ballot begins on February 4 and will end on February 11. The academic All-America Team for men's basketball will be released on February 19.

2014 Capital One Academic All-District Men's Basketball Teams