Gustavus Adolphus College football player T.J. Ridley, a junior safety from Edina, Minn., has been named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division Second Team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Ridley, who carries a 3.96 grade point average with a major in Biology and Pre-Med, finished the season with 38 tackles (18 solo), two interceptions, and 1.5 tackles for loss. He is also a forward on the Golden Gustie men’s hockey team.
Ridley becomes the 75th Gustavus student athlete to be named to a CoSIDA Academic All-America team. He is the eighth Gustavus football player to be honored following Dave Najarian (1980, 1981), Dan Duncan (1998, 1999), Brian Bergstrom (2000), Andy Kopperud (2000), Andy Traetow (2002), Ben Spilseth (2002), and Isaac Sieling (2004). Gustavus ranks ninth among all Division III institutions in number of CoSIDA Academic All-Americans (75). Last year, the Gusties tied for the fourth highest number of Academic All-Americans among Division I, II, and III institutions with eight.
Ridley is the son of Jeff and Cindy Ridley of Edina and a 2006 graduate of Edina High School.
The CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America® program honors male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA, the College Sports Information Directors of America; a 2,000-member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.
To be eligible, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.