Football | January 18, 2019
KALAMAZOO, Mich.- The Western Michigan football team had a 3.05 collective grade-point average for the 2018 Fall academic semester. A total of 57 players had GPAs of 3.0 or better, 36 players made the Dean's List with GPAs of 3.5 or higher, and nine Broncos had perfect 4.0 GPAs for the semester.
"This is one of the best academic semesters I have ever been a part of and to do it during the season is even more impressive," said WMU head coach
Tim Lester. "To have nine guys have a 4.0 is unreal. It says a lot about the character of our team. I am proud of them."
Three Broncos earned their undergraduate degrees during the December commencement, quarterbacks
Jon Wassink and
Alex Mussat, and tight end
Odell Miller. Wassink and Mussat both have eligibility remaining and will return to the 2019 roster as they begin pursuing master's degrees.
The nine players who were perfect in the classroom with 4.0's were:
Redshirt Junior Quarterback
Jon Wassink - Accountancy
Redshirt Senior Tight End
Odell Miller - Exercise Science
Freshman Tight End
Anthony Torres - Business
Redshirt Freshman Defensive Back
Harrison Taylor - Business
Sophomore Wide Receiver
Luke Sanders - Business
Redshirt Sophomore Offensive Lineman
Mike Caliendo - Biomedical Sciences
Redshirt Sophomore Tight End
Wade Buckman - Management
Freshman Defensive Back
Jake Moertl - Management
Freshman Kicker
Cameron Braaten - Aviation Flight Science
This past season Western Michigan had a
league-high and program record 20 players on the 2018 Academic All-Mid-American Conference team.
Five other those players went on to earn MAC Distinguished Scholar-Athlete recognition.