IWU’s Zach Freeman Earns Academic All-District

February 8, 2007
CONTACT: Stew Salowitz, 309-556-3206

Illinois Wesleyan senior Zach Freeman has been elected to the first team of the all-District V academic men’s basketball squad and will join representatives of seven other districts on the ESPN: The Magazine Academic All-America national ballot.
A 6-foot-7, 210 pound center, Freeman (Bloomington, Ill., Normal Community HS) has a 3.48 grade-point average as an elementary education major. He is a member of the IWU Student Athletic Advisory Council and did his student teaching last fall at Bloomington’s Washington Elementary School.
He is averaging team-high numbers of 21.9 points and 9.0 rebounds per game for the 10-11 Titans. He has been the Titans’ leading scorer in 14 games and top rebounder in 15 games.
Freeman has 1,609 career points and is No. 7 all-time at the school and his 779 career rebounds makes him No. 5 at IWU. He has 454 career free throws, No. 2 all-time at IWU behind Bryan Crabtree (518, 1993-97) and Freeman’s .634 field goal percentage this season is third best in an IWU season, behind Brent Niebrugge, who shot .642 in 1997 and .638 in 1998.
Freeman is joined on the first all-District V team by Winona State senior Zach Malvik (3.64, business administration), Wheaton senior Michael Fiddler of Wheaton (3.93, ancient languages), Joe Werner of Wisconsin-LaCrosse (graduate student, 3.58, business administration) and Illinois College sophomore Mark Gillingham (4.00, history).
The all-district teams were chosen by a vote of members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario. To be considered for the ESPN: The Magazine Academic All-America squads, players must be of at least sophomore standing, have a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 (of 4.0), and be a starter or first-line reserve.
Since the program began in 1970, Illinois Wesleyan student-athletes have earned a total of 102 Academic All-America berths, a total eclipsed by only six other schools, including Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
IWU has 15 first team Academic All-Americans in men’s basketball, a total that is second to only UCLA (with 17). Teams with 13 first team Academic All-Americans are Indiana and Kansas. Other schools ranking highly in first team Academic All-Americans are Duke (12), Notre Dame (11), Kentucky (9), and Brigham Young and Millikin (8). Illinois Wesleyan also has had seven others in men’s basketball that earned second- or third-team Academic All-America honors.