Academic All-District football team for Super Region 2

Austin, Texas----Wingate University has four football student-athletes on the Academic All-District® team for Super Region 2, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Graduate student offensive lineman and 2019 Academic All-America® Andrew Strickland (Raleigh, N.C.) leads the way as a repeat selection.
 
Strickland is joined by sophomore wide receiver Trevor Grant (Waxhaw, N.C.), redshirt junior offensive lineman Hunter Jolly (Cumming, Ga.) and senior long snapper Tucker Mullis (Marshville, N.C.). Grant, Jolly and Mullis are each honored for the first time in their respective careers.
 
Wingate and Gulf South Conference member Mississippi College both have four student-athletes on the Academic All-District® team for Super Region 2. Only two other NCAA Division II schools (Chadron State and Minnesota State Mankato, both from Super Region 4) can claim four players on Academic All-District® teams.
 
The South Atlantic Conference has 11 of the 17 Academic All-District® Super Region 2 team members. In football, Super Region 2 includes schools from the SAC, the GSC, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
 
Andrew Strickland (OL)
 
- Second team Academic All-America® and AFCA All-American in 2019
- One of only three D2 student-athletes to earn academic/athletic double-double in 2019
- This spring, Strickland was SAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winner for football
- In 2020, he was named the SAC Man of the Year (all sports)
- Career stats ledger: 1950 snaps, 160 knockdown blocks, only six sacks allowed
- Strickland graduated in 2020 with an accounting degree (3.81 GPA)
- He is enrolled in Wingate's MAC program (3.88 GPA)
 
Wingate head football coach Joe Reich on Andrew Strickland: "I am not sure what else we can say about Strick. He's accomplished so much in his time here, but the great thing is that he is singularly focused on getting the most out of this team in this season. Love this!"
 
Trevor Grant (WR)
 
- In 2019, Grant caught nine passes for 133 yards as a true freshman
- He posted season-best 43-yard reception versus Lenoir-Rhyne
- Grant had two catches each versus UNC Pembroke and West Florida in 2019
- Bulldogs made the NCAAs his first season
- Grant recorded his first TD reception in abbreviated 2021 spring season versus Barton
- Career stats ledger: 13 receptions, 179 yards (13.8 yards per catch)
- Grant has a 4.00 GPA with a finance major (accounting minor)
 
Wingate head football coach Joe Reich on Trevor Grant: "Trevor Grant is as high character as they come. He is focused on what he needs to do to be at his best in all areas. He does everything the same, all-out relentless effort."
 
Hunter Jolly (OL)
 
- Jolly won the prestigious Charlotte Touchdown Club scholarship in 2018
- He played a team-high 831 snaps with a career-best 41 knockdown blocks in 2018
- Jolly is a three-year starter who has started every game he has played
- Career stats ledger: 1749 snaps, 89 knockdown blocks, only four sacks allowed
- Jolly graduated this May with an exercise science degree (3.38 GPA)
- He obtained a minor in management as well
 
Wingate head football coach Joe Reich on Hunter Jolly: "Hunter Jolly is Mr. Consistency. He brings his best every day. He is developing into one of our best leaders, on and off the field."
 
Tucker Mullis (LS)
 
- Mullis has started every game he has played at long snapper (36-of-36)
- In 2019, he helped placekicker McLean Robertson earn All-SAC and All-Region honors
- Robertson made a SAC-best 16 field goals during the 2019 season
- In 2018, Mullis saw Robertson and punter Chris Birozes make All-SAC
- Wingate won a NCAA playoff game at West Georgia in 2018
- Mullis started as a true freshman in 2017
- He is an All-SAC and All-SER thrower on Wingate's track and field team
- He made Academic All-District® III in track and field last spring (2020)
- Mullis graduated this May with a degree in management (3.82 GPA)
 
Wingate head football coach Joe Reich on Tucker Mullis: "Tucker Mullis is an absolute joy to coach. He brings energy and enthusiasm every day. He makes our team and our University better in many ways. I wish we had him for four more years."
 
Wingate Football notes
 
- Wingate has made three straight trips to the NCAA postseason (2017-19)
- Bulldogs won the 2017 SAC regular season championship
- Wingate has received 15 Academic All-America® honors in football
- Strickland's 2020 honor is the most recent
- In 2014, five Bulldogs made Academic All-America®
- Will Poteat made first team Academic All-America® in 2014
- Brandon Ellington, Jon Jimenez, Eric Mapoles and Nick Napolitano earned second team laurels the same year
 
The Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structures, assisting CoSIDA with the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2020-21 DII Academic All-America® teams' program. To be nominated for Academic All-America® honors, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore with a 3.30 cumulative grade point average and must be a starter or a significant reserve on his team.

WINGATE UNIVERSITY
 
Founded in 1896, Wingate University is a laboratory of difference-making that serves more than 3,600 students in North Carolina. Wingate offers 36 undergraduate majors as well as six master's and four doctoral programs. The University is home to the Cannon College of Arts and Sciences; the Levine College of Health Sciences; the Byrum School of Business; and the College of Professional Studies, which includes the Thayer School of Education and the School of Sport Sciences.
 
Wingate is the leading healthcare education provider in western North Carolina, and nearly one in five Wingate undergraduate students is preparing to be a pharmacist, physician assistant, physical therapist, occupational therapist or nurse. Athletes on Wingate's 23 teams compete in NCAA Division II and have brought home the SAC Echols Athletic Excellence Award for 13 years straight. The University's motto is "Faith, Knowledge, Service." View current news and videos at www.wingate.edu.