ELON, N.C. – Elon junior Drew Spradlin was named to the Capital One Academic All-District III Men’s Basketball First Team as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The guard is the first Phoenix men’s basketball player to earn first-team honors since Chris Chalko in 2007. By virtue of being named to the first team, Spradlin will be included on the national ballot for the Capital One Academic All-America Team.

A native of Wheelersburg, Ohio, Spradlin has had a strong junior season in the maroon and gold. He is averaging a team-best 14.6 ppg and betters that to 17.8 ppg against Southern Conference opponents. The preseason all-conference selection has scored in double figures in 12 straight games, dating back to the Dec. 20th matchup against defending national champion Duke. Spradlin has dumped in 20 or more points in six games already this year and is shooting above 40 percent from the field. In just two and a half seasons, he has moved into sixth place all-time at Elon with 132 three-pointers and is nearing the 1,000 point plateau with 889 career points.

In the classroom, Spradlin maintains a 3.69 GPA as a political science major. He was honored as the league’s student-athlete of the week in mid-January.

To be eligible for nomination, student-athletes must have participated in at least 50 percent of their team’s games, be of sophomore standing athletically and have a cumulative grade point average of 3.3.