Watson Named to CoSIDA Academic All-America Team

CoSIDA College Division Baseball Academic All-America Teams | TU Honors Page

AUSTIN, Texas – Taylor University junior standout Tanner Watson was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second-Team, as recently announced by the College of Sports Information Directors of America.

The prestigious 22-member list of first and second-team awards was determined by a CoSIDA committee, with the goal of recognizing the finest student-athletes from around the nation at all NAIA, Canadian and two-year institutions. The group boasted an average grade-point average was 3.80 and featured 17 seniors, with only four juniors and one sophomore making the cut.

Watson earned his first Academic All-American nod, making the Second-Team after repeating as a First-Team Academic All-District selection. The junior outfielder and catcher boasts a cumulative 3.79 GPA in finance and ranked No. 32 among all NAIA players with 20 doubles during the 2017 season. Watson closed his third collegiate season with a .366 average, 27 extra-base hits, 55 runs batted in and a .999 OPS, while posting a slash line of .404/.454/.604/1.058 in 111 at bats against league pitching.

Taylor now boasts seven CoSIDA Academic All-Americans during the 2016-2017 year and 63 in school history. Watson's honor is the eighth for the baseball program at TU and the first since Josh DeGraaf and Jake West claimed the honor in 2015.