CLEVELAND – Two University of Dayton senior football players –safety David Leisring and running back Tucker Yinger – have been named to the 21st annual Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association (FCS ADA) Academic All-Star Team.  The 47-man team was announced by the FCS ADA Jan. 5.

Schools are limited to two nominations each year, and Dayton is one of just 11 institutions to have both of their student-athletes named.  The other schools are Abilene Christian, Colgate, Dartmouth, Lafayette, South Dakota State, Stony Brook, Towson, Wagner, and Western Carolina. 

In addition, Leisring and Yinger are two of eight student-athletes who have been named the last two seasons, and Dayton is the only school to have both of its nominees earn the award in both 2017 and 2018.

Leisring is also a finalist for the 18th Annual FCS ADA $5,000 Postgraduate Scholarship. Two student-athletes from the seven finalists will receive postgraduate scholarships during the Association's annual membership meeting held in conjunction with the 2019 NACDA Convention, at the World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida, June 10-12.

"One of the most important responsibilities that the FCS ADA has is the selection of the Annual Academic All-Star Team," stated current FCS ADA President Bill Smith, director of athletics at Bryant University. "This group of young men are some of the best and brightest football players and scholars in the country. 

"They have been leaders on their individual campuses and have excelled in the classroom, their communities and on the gridiron. They truly exemplify FCS football and now we have the honor of naming them to the 2018 Academic All Star Team."

A three-time Academic All-American, Leisring led the Flyers in tackles and interceptions for the second consecutive season.  This year he had 90 total tackles and 49 solo hits, with three interceptions.  He also forced a team-high two fumbles and broke up three passes.  

Leisring was a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation's Campbell Trophy, which is sometimes referred to as the "Academic Heisman."  He has a 3.74 cumulative grade point average while majoring in Finance.  He is also Vice-President of UD's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Yinger is also a three-time Academic All-American, including being named to the first team the last two seasons.  He graduated in December with a 3.81 GPA in Mechanical Engineering.  He was this season's Pioneer Football League Scholar-Athlete of the Year and was the first Dayton player to be named First Team Academic All-PFL four times.
 
He became the first Dayton runner to post two 1,000-yard seasons when he ran for more than 200 yards in each of his last three games and finished with 1,340 yards.  He set the Dayton career records for rushing yards (3,757), yards-per-carry (6.3) and all-purpose yards (4,468).  Yinger led the PFL in yards per carry (7.6, third in FCS) and all-purpose yardage (157.3 yards per game, sixth in FCS), and was second in in the PFL in yards per game (121.8, eighth in FCS). 

Football players from all Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) institutions are eligible for the award. Each of the nominees were required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.20 (on a 4.00 scale) in undergraduate study and have been a starter or key player with legitimate athletics credentials. They must have reached their second year of athletics and academic standing at the nominated institution and have completed a minimum of one full academic year at the nominated institution. They must also have participated in 50 percent (50%) of the games played at their designated position.

A special Review Committee of FCS athletics directors was responsible for selecting the 2018 All-Star Team and FCS ADA Postgraduate Scholarship finalists. This year's Review Committee consisted of: Bill Smith, Bryant University (Chair); Nathan Pine, College of the Holy Cross; Kent Haslam, University of Montana; Ashley Robinson, Jackson State University; and Thorr Bjorn, University of Rhode Island.