By Thomas Corhern, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Josh Poplar is going to have to find some more room on his trophy shelf.
On Friday, the Tennessee Tech linebacker was named one of 47 Football Championship Subdivision players on the FCS Athletic Directors Association's 21st Annual Academic All-Star Team. He was also named as a finalist for the 18th Annual FCS ADA $5,000 Postgraduate Scholarship, which will be awarded to two student-athletes at the organization's annual meeting in conjunction with the 2019 NACDA Convention in Orlando, Fla., June 10-12.
On Thursday, Poplar was also named to the Phil Steele All-Ohio Valley Conference 3rd team defense.
Poplar, who graduated last May with a 3.97 GPA with a degree in business, is currently working towards a master's degree in business administration.
The nominees for the Academic All-Star Team were required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.2 in undergraduate study and have been a starter or key player with legitimate athletics credentials. They had to be in their second year of athletics and academic standing and completed at least one full academic year at their institution. They must also have competed in half of the games played at their position.
Poplar fit that in spades. In addition to his academic success in the classroom, he was also Tech's second leading tackler in his first season back after missing the 2017 campaign from a stroke and surgery to repair a hole in his heart. He played in all 11 games, starting eight, as he had 101 total tackles, including 40 solo, 61 assisted and two for-loss for six yards. Poplar also forced a fumble.
But the highlight came in his first game back. Against Chattanooga, Poplar intercepted a pass and returned it 14 yards for Tech's first touchdown of the season.
Poplar was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team presented by CoSIDA for the second time and was selected as an honorable mention for the Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year. He was the OVC's representative among the STATS FCS Doris Robinson Award finalists.
During his career, he also received the OVC's Academic Medal of Honor and OVC Scholar-Athlete Award, the highest honor bestowed to a student-athlete at the conference's member institutions. He has also been a fixture on the Tech Athletic Director's Honor Roll and the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll.
The finalists for the FCS ADA Postgraduate Scholarship include: Alex Pechin (P, Bucknell, 3.93 GPA), Chandler Burks (QB, Kennesaw State, 3.9), Andrew Chuma (DL, Lafayette College, 3.95), Easton Stick (QB, North Dakota State, 4.0), Taryn Christion (QB, South Dakota State, 3.61), Poplar and David Leisring (DB, Dayton, 3.71).
Photo by Thomas Corhern
