Schlingman Selected First-Team Academic All-American

College of Wooster senior Matt Schlingman (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland) was one of five men´s basketball players from NCAA Div. II and III and NAIA schools named to the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-AmericaÌ First Team, announced the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Wednesday.

A second-team Academic All-AmericanÌ in 2004, Schlingman becomes just the fourth student-athlete at Wooster to receive the prestigious honor more than once, joining swimmer Kayla Heising (2003-04) and football players Matt Mahaffey (1998-99) and Blake Moore (1977-79).

Schlingman, who was selected second-team All-North Coast Athletic Conference on Tuesday, is the Fighting Scots´ second-leading scorer (12.0 ppg) and well on pace to set the school record for season field-goal percentage (.692). The 6-7, 220-pound starting center and team captain leads that category in the NCAC as well as ranking 14th in scoring and fourth in blocked shots (0.96 per game). Last week, Schlingman became the 27th Wooster player to reach the 1,000-point milestone, and he´s currently 25th on that list (1,024), thanks to averaging 14.8 points over the last 11 games.

Off the court, Schlingman, the son of Lee and Selora Schlingman, carries a 3.99 cumulative GPA while majoring in mathematics. Along with receiving various academic awards, he volunteers with a school group trying to decrease acts of violence towards women Ø úMen Working for Change.î

The Scots, the No. 5 ranked team in Div. III (D3hoops.com), hosts nearby Baldwin-Wallace College (20-8) in the first round of the 2005 NCAA Div. III Tournament Thursday (March 3) at 7 p.m. The winner will play at Albion (Mich.) College (24-3) on Saturday (March 5) at 7 p.m.