Clarksville, TN – A pair of senior Austin Peay State University football players, offensive tackle Ben Stansfield and defensive lineman Iosua Siliva, have been named Capital One Second-Team Division I Academic All-Americans, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Through his first six APSU semesters, Stansfield has yet to make anything but an A as a pre-law/psychology major. Recently he was awarded the prestigious Ohio Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete Award, the highest individual honor bestowed on league student-athletes.
Stansfield has been a member of the President’s List (4.0 GPA) all six semesters and has earned the Ohio Valley Conference Medal of Honor -having the highest GPA for the year in a conference-sponsored sport-in each of his first three college years.
In addition, Stansfield three times has been named to the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll (3.25 GPA/year) and has been a member of the Athletics Director’s Honor Roll (3.0 GPA) each semester. Planning to graduate in December in 3 ½ years, he was named the APSU Football Scholar-Athlete the last two years.
Stansfield is a member of APSU Honors College as well as Gamma Beta Honor Society. He also is involved in both the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) as well as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Stansfield also served as the football team representative on the committee to hire Kirby Cannon as APSU’s football coach.
On the field, the Franklin native moved into the starting lineup as a junior after being a part-time starter/reserve his first two seasons. He was named preseason All-OVC by the league sports information directors and coaches.
Siliva, meanwhile, holds a 3.94 GPA in Agricultural-Sustainable Development. He is a four-time member of the President’s List along with two other semesters on the Dean’s List (3.5 GPA). He also is a three-time member of the OVC Commissioner’s Honor Roll and a six-time Athletics Director’s Honor Roll member. He received the OVC Medal of Honor in 2012-13 for owning the highest GPA (4.0) for his respective conference sport.
Despite his academic success in high school, he nearly was not admitted to Austin Peay, needing committee action to do so. A Vailoa, America Samoa native, Siliva was chosen as the Fox College Sports Student-Athlete of the Game when the Govs played host to Tennessee Tech in the 2012 season finale.
Siliva moved into the starting lineup as a sophomore at defensive end. After playing much of 2012 season inside, he was shifted back out to defensive end late in the season. He remained at defensive end for season’s remainder.
This season Siliva was named to the Senior Bowl Preseason Watch team as well as to Phil Steele’s Preseason All-OVC team. However, he missed nearly the entire month of October with a leg fracture. He returned to play the season’s final two games.
Previously, both Siliva and Stansfield were named to the Capital One District 3 Academic All-District team, the third such selection for Siliva and second for Stansfield.
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 20,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports.
