McNamara Named First-Team Academic All-American

by CU Athletic Communications - Tue Nov 26 12:08:08 GMT-04:00 2013

Congrats to Thomas McNamara—he was named to Capital One Academic All-America 1st team! More: http://t.co/AFz1f1I81Y pic.twitter.com/jkRlYAI0P7
— Clemson Men's Soccer (@ClemsonMensSoc) November 26, 2013

CLEMSON, SC—Clemson Men’s Soccer player Thomas McNamara was named to the Capital One Academic All-America First-Team selected by CoSida(College Sports Information Directors of America) as announced by the organization Tuesday.

A graduate student with a 3.40 G.P.A. in applied economics, McNamara graduated with a degree in economics from Brown. The native of West Nyack, NY led Clemson in scoring with seven goals and eight assists for 22 points in 2013. He also became the first Tiger soccer player in seven years to be named first team All-Atlantic Coast Conference.

In 2013, McNamara was named ACC Player-of-the-Week twice and National Player-of-the-Week once. He was also named to the ACC All-Tournament team.

He scored four game-winning goals this season while leading the Tigers (11-7-3) to the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The four game-winning goals are the most since Dane Richards had seven in the 2005 season. The 22 points he accumulated in 2013 is also the most for a Tiger since Richards had 31 in 2006.

McNamara is the first Clemson player selected to the Capital One Academic First Team since 1987 when Jamey Rootes was selected. Rootes is currently the President of the NFL’s Houston Texans.

“We are very proud of Thomas and what he has accomplished this season,” said Clemson Head Men’s Soccer Coach Mike Noonan. “He is an excellent young man and a superb soccer player. He pursues excellence in everything he does.

“He was the catalyst of our team this past season. Tommy centralized our team and made it complete. Tommy is a good representative of our program--a program that has a rich history of high expectations on and off the field,” said Noonan.

To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative G.P.A. 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 19,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.