North Carolina State University Athletics

Wolfpack Places Five on All-ACC Academic Team
1/30/2019 1:39:00 PM | Football
RALEIGH, N.C. - Five members of the 2018 Wolfpack football squad have been named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference Academic Team in honor of their performance in the classroom as well as their success on the playing field. The Wolfpack's honorees were C Garrett Bradbury, P A.J. Cole III, QB Ryan Finley, DE James Smith-Williams and WR Thayer Thomas.
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Bradbury and Finley join just five other players in school history as they won academic all-conference honors for the third time in their careers, while it marks the second award for Cole. Four of the five honorees have graduated from NC State, while the fourth – Thomas – was a redshirt freshman last season.
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Bradbury, a consensus All-American last season, graduated in 2017 with a degree in business supply chain management. The 2018 recipient of the Rimington Trophy, which is given to the nation's top center, Bradbury posted a 3.750 career GPA, was a six-time Dean's List honoree and has been named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team each of the past two years.
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Cole, who earned a 4.0 GPA in his industrial engineering major during the fall and posted a cumulative 3.684 mark in his four years, has also been named to the Dean's List six times and has been named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team each of the past two years.
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A member of the 2018 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Class, Finley was the only player in the FBS who held a master's degree prior to last season. The first-team All-ACC performer earned a 3.5 GPA in his post-graduate courses and was named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District team.
Smith-Williams graduated in December with a degree in business supply chain management, posting a 3.167 fall GPA. The returning starter at defensive end ranked second on the team in tackles for loss last season and is a two-time Dean's List honoree.
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Thomas will also return next season after earning honors with a 3.25 GPA in his management major last semester. His 34 catches last season was one of the top marks in school history for a Wolfpack freshman.
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Bradbury and Finley join just five other players in school history as they won academic all-conference honors for the third time in their careers, while it marks the second award for Cole. Four of the five honorees have graduated from NC State, while the fourth – Thomas – was a redshirt freshman last season.
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Bradbury, a consensus All-American last season, graduated in 2017 with a degree in business supply chain management. The 2018 recipient of the Rimington Trophy, which is given to the nation's top center, Bradbury posted a 3.750 career GPA, was a six-time Dean's List honoree and has been named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team each of the past two years.
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Cole, who earned a 4.0 GPA in his industrial engineering major during the fall and posted a cumulative 3.684 mark in his four years, has also been named to the Dean's List six times and has been named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District Team each of the past two years.
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A member of the 2018 National Football Foundation National Scholar-Athlete Class, Finley was the only player in the FBS who held a master's degree prior to last season. The first-team All-ACC performer earned a 3.5 GPA in his post-graduate courses and was named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District team.
Smith-Williams graduated in December with a degree in business supply chain management, posting a 3.167 fall GPA. The returning starter at defensive end ranked second on the team in tackles for loss last season and is a two-time Dean's List honoree.
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Thomas will also return next season after earning honors with a 3.25 GPA in his management major last semester. His 34 catches last season was one of the top marks in school history for a Wolfpack freshman.
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