GREENWOOD, Ind. – Three Penn State Altoona basketball student-athletes were recognized for their success in the classroom on Tuesday afternoon, when the College Sports Communicators released their 2024-25 NCAA Division III Academic All-District teams.

To be eligible for a spot on an Academic All-District team, student-athletes must meet certain academic and athletic requirements. Academically, student-athletes must be at least sophomores while holding cumulative grade-point averages of 3.5 or higher. Athletically, players must be starters or key reserves who have played in at least 90 percent of their team's games, or started two thirds of the games. Nominators could submit up to four qualified student-athletes per team.

One men's and two women's basketball student-athletes from Penn State Altoona were named to the CSC's NCAA Division III Academic All-District teams:

Men's Basketball:

-junior guard Kaden Claar (Portage, PA/Portage); majoring in Kinesiology

Women's Basketball:

-junior guard Jess Burns (South Fayette, PA/South Fayette); majoring in Nursing

-sophomore guard Madison Rusnica (DuBois, PA/DuBois); majoring in Criminal Justice/Psychology

For more information on the CSC's academic awards, visit https://academicallamerica.com/