COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – Academics has been a major priority for the Tennessee Tech football team for a long time, and the Golden Eagles were able to show two examples on Thursday as two members of the team were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team.

Senior wide receiver Jordan Smith (LaVergne, Tenn.) and sophomore linebacker Josh Poplar (Knoxville, Tenn.) were named to the District 3 list, joining representatives from the University of Tennessee, Charlotte, East Carolina, Memphis, Chattanooga, North Carolina, Old Dominion, Campbell, Vanderbilt, Liberty, Wake Forest, Duke, Virginia, Western Carolina and Elon.

 

The CoSIDA Academic All-District team selections are voted on by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America, and will move on for consideration as Academic All-Americans.

 

This marks the eighth time the Golden Eagles have had two selections since 1985, and Tech football has had 32 different players named to the list in the past 31 years.

 

There were also eight total selections across the membership of the Ohio Valley Conference.

 

Smith, who has a 3.6 grade point average in EXPW/Physical Therapy, was named to the all-district team last season.

 

So far this year, Smith has caught 19 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns. He averages 32.6 yards per game and 13.7 yards per catch, as well as 2.4 catches per game. His longest catch is a 39-yard grab.

 

Smith was named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll last spring, and was named to the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll.

 

Smith becomes the seventh Golden Eagle player to repeat on the Academic All-District roster, joining Andy Rittenhouse, Ted Lockerby, Wes Gallagher, Jon Mahan, Bradley Thompson and Stephen Bush.

 

Poplar leads the Golden Eagles in tackles with 84 – 34 solo and 50 assisted – and averages 10.5 stops a game. He has 3.5 tackles-for-loss for eight yards, and also has two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He has also recorded a pass break-up.

 

Poplar was named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll last spring, as well as the OVC Commissioner's Honor Roll. He also won the league's Academic Medal of Honor.

 

The Tech football team has produced 32 different Academic All-District selections, including Barry Wilmore (1985), Andy Rittenhouse (1985, 1986, 1987), Joel Chandler (1986), Clark Richey (1987), Spencer Hissam (1990), Ted Lockerby (1991, 1992), Scott Trent (1995), Jeff Norman (1997), Wes Gallagher (1997, 1998, 1999), Trey Perry (2002), Brett Vavra (2004), Jon Mahan (2005, 2006), Taylor Askew (2007, 2008, 2009), Bradley Thompson (2007, 2008), Corey Watson (2011), James Norman (2011), Stephen Bush (2012, 2015), Radir Anoor (2015) and Smith (2015).